Keepers of the Elements 2: Building Bridges
by Akela Victoire
Summary: After an eventful TDWT, the Keepers are hoping to have some peace at last. Fate has other ideas for them. Magical and non-magical beings mistrust each other- and this is what a new group of villains seek to exploit. Can they bring stability to all?
1. The Hayley Hinkson Show

Here we are! The sequel to Keepers of the Elements! If you haven't read that, then go read it now! You won't understand much of this story if you don't!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Total Drama series, even though I wish I did…

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><p>The lights in the room were dimmed but were quickly turned on one-by one to reveal a large television studio decorated in a black and gold scheme.<p>

The pale yellow-cushioned seats had shiny black handles and each and every seat was occupied by very eager-looking audience members.

The stage itself had a two-person black couch with gold-coloured cushions and five separate chairs decorated similarly. Drapery of the same colour was hung on each side.

As soon as all the flights came on, the people began to cheer as a brown-skinned young woman with straight shoulder-length black hair with highlights pulled into a low ponytail and dark brown eyes stepped out from one side of the stage and headed to the two-seater couch. She was wearing a green short-sleeved top, black skinny jeans, green wedge-heels with straw-coloured soles and gold dangly-earrings.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEY EVERYBODY! Welcome to the Hayley Hinkson Show with yours truly, Hayley Hinkson!" She waved at the crowd grinning as she sunk into her seat and the crowd cheered even louder.

"We've got, like a very interesting show for you today!" She exclaimed.

The crowd cheered even more.

"As you know, a few weeks ago it was revealed to us all that magic exists in a very, _very _big way."

The audience went silent at her words.

"Yep, yep, yep, peoples! Magic exists all right! And guess who was a part of all that? Five of the female cast members of this very company's own reality series, Total Drama!" Hayley exclaimed.

The audience cheered again and whopped-whooped.

"There's so much to learn and we're still coming to terms with it all and here to help us do that are Gwen, Heather, Lindsay, Bridgette and Izzy, the five girls with powers over the Elements who were at the centre of it all!" She exclaimed.

The lights at the other side of the stage dimmed and when they came back on fully, the five Keepers were all standing there in the spotlight.

The audience's noise level reached deafening proportions as each Keeper took a seat on the stage and some audience members even began donning Keeper memorabilia which had started to be sold as soon as the same week in which Radcliffe was defeated.

Heather's hair was curly and held back with a ruby red hairband and she wore a short-sleeved white ruffled blouse, a red knee-length skirt, matching heels and droplet ruby earrings that she had crafted herself.

Lindsay's hair was straight, held back with a white headband and she was wearing a high-necked pink halter top mini-dress with white leggings and pink ballet flats.

Izzy's hair was rolled into a bun and she wore an off-the shoulder dark green knee-length dress and black ankle boots.

Bridgette's hair was let down and held back by a wavy light blue headband and she wore a light brown tunic-style mini-dress over light blue jeans, light brown sandals, pearl earrings and the necklace that Magalie had given to her.

Gwen's hair was slicked back into a low ponytail and she wore a black buttoned-up vest over a dark grey shirt and black pants which were tucked into black knee-high boots with dark grey laces at the front. The Silver Star of course, remained present.

"Hey Keepers! Welcome to the show! How are you all doing?" Hayley said cheerfully.

"We're doing pretty well, all things considered…" Gwen answered.

"Yeah, I can see that fighting some evil, super powered bad guy could do that to you..." Hayley nodded. "So how are you coping with your newfound fame, huh? Tell us all about it!"

"Well it certainly has been quite the experience becoming even more famous than we were before, being a Keeper taking the fame we did have before up to a whole new level…" Heather said.

"I see. And we also discovered that Sierra and Cody were a part of the magic as well. In fact, Sierra wasn't even from Earth, but was Princess of a planet called Nadir and Cody was an Earthling wizard! Even Ezekiel, an ever unpopular contestant was involved in the whole adventure! How did you feel when you found out that they were magic as well?" Hayley slouched back into her seat.

"It was even more of a surprise than discovering we all had magic powers and were some of the most powerful magical beings in fact. I mean, who would've guessed that Ezekiel, of all people was not what we thought he was?" Bridgette shrugged.

"Yeah, Zekey to me was the biggest shock of all if we had to pick who else in the cast besides us would have powers…" Izzy said.

"True that. Would've never guessed it of Ezekiel…" Gwen shrugged.

"Neither would I!" Hayley exclaimed. "And now we move on to the darker side of things…"

The Keepers all glanced at one another worriedly.

"Villains and personal trials during this whole ordeal…" Hayley clasped her hands in front of her face, barely hiding a devious smile.

"Radcliffe: your thoughts on him. Let's start off simple in that regard, shall we? What are the first words that come to mind when you think of him?" Hayley asked.

"A foul excuse of a wizard!" Heather exclaimed.

"Pathetic." Gwen said.

"Genre blind." Bridgette said.

"Persistent!" Izzy exclaimed.

"A complete monster…" Lindsay said.

"Interesting choice of words, I think. Why would you say each of those?"

"Well _I_ think he's pathetic because he was trying to take over all worlds for centuries and never once did he even succeed in having even temporary control of a single city…" Gwen explained.

"Well Gwen pretty much explained what I was thinking. Despite losing all the time, he still persisted!" Izzy exclaimed.

"_I_ say he's a foul excuse of a wizard because he oftentimes sent out other people to do his dirty work for him. Many wizards could get what they want without killing or maiming people but him? Not so much!" Heather seethed.

"Radcliffe is genre blind because he made so many mistakes and he never learned from them, based on what we've seen ourselves and learnt since then…" Bridgette shrugged.

"Do I really need to explain why he's a complete monster from what you know of him?" Lindsay asked.

"Truer words have never been spoken…" Hayley shuddered at the thought of what she knew.

"And we have also learnt that two other fellow former contestants turned to the dark side- Alejandro and Courtney…" Hayley longed back in her chair.

Gwen and Heather looked at one another uneasily. The two aforementioned individuals were still sore spots for them.

Hayley looked at them and her expression changed. "Which we will talk about in a bonus clip that you'll be able to find later at this website: _www.__ hayleyhinksonshow .ca_!"

The audience moaned in disappointment.

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><p>After the show, the Keepers were hanging out with Hayley backstage.<p>

Hayley poured a cup of coffee for herself at the coffee table and turned to the buffet to grab a slice of cake.

"So, when you were asking about… _those two,_ why did you stop?" Heather asked suddenly.

The young television host turned slowly. "Well the way I saw it, judging by your expressions, I thought it best not to talk about it live. Besides, by putting that extra clip online, it's bound to produce extra traffic for the website!"

Gwen rolled her eyes at this.

"And I have something to tell you in confidence." Hayley's tone changed suddenly.

She led them to her dressing room and made sure to lock the door.

"That ignorant act that I put on for the show? It was all just that- an act. I very well know who Radcliffe is and what magic is like." Hayley said. "Because I am magic as well..."

The Keepers looked mildly surprised at this.

Ever since magic had been exposed to the world, "coming out" had been given a whole new meaning. Just as gay and bisexual people revealed their dating preferences, people revealed to their non-magical family and friends that they too, had powers.

And just like gay and bisexual people, not all of them took to it well…

"Oh…" Lindsay broke the silence.

"Mind you, I only found out there were others like me about five years ago. Fourteen years of being magic and I didn't know what I was until a witch that was living in the neighbourhood the whole time told me…" Hayley sighed.

"Does your family know?" Bridgette asked gently.

"My mother is dead as you might know, my younger brother and sister Calvin and Caitlin are only eight and I'm not sure how my father would react if I told him…" Hayley said simply.

"But enough of this topic. I have an online bonus clip to provide you know!" Hayley said, sitting in a nearby chair and grinning at them. "It's still my job and I have to get this done soon. I have to get ready for the show's Australia edition and I still haven't finished packing…"

They all sighed before leaving Hayley's dressing room and heading back to the studio, which had been cleared of people except for the production team.

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><p>"<em>Bullshit."<em>

The newspaper being read was thrown across the room and smacked into a wall.

The man who had been reading it had short, curly dark red hair and dark grey eyes which were now displaying annoyance.

The other four individuals in the room glanced up from what they were doing to look at him, all startled.

"What's up with Xavier?" A large, bulky man with messy dark green hair and black eyes asked.

"Who knows?" The lone woman, a beautiful Asian-looking woman with her light pink waist-length hair pulled back into a ponytail shrugged.

"What's up with you, Xavier?" A lanky figure with a platinum blond Mohawk and grey eyes asked.

"I suggest we read the paper that Xavier just threw away..." A man with messy light blue hair and brown eyes who wore goggles on top of his head walked across the room and gathered together the scattered paper.

He laid it out on the computer desk he had been working at and opened it to what Xavier had been apparently reading earlier.

"Oh, it's just the Alma Stock Market not doing so well. Big deal!" The big guy shrugged.

"That is bad, you dolt!" The woman lifted her hand which glowed black and slapped him around the head. It seemed to have no effect.

"Not that you idiots! This!" Blue Hair pointed at another article.

The headline of the newspaper read:

_**Magical-Earth Relations To Be Established**_

_In the few weeks that have passed since Radcliffe being killed once and for all by the Total Drama Keepers or TDK as they are now commonly referred to, the magical planets have taken steps to establish friendly relations with the planet of Earth. Each of the magical planet's political leaders will be in attendance at the United Nations building on Earth which is located in a city called "New York" in a country called the United States of America._

"So what?" Mohawk asked, shrugging.

This time it was his turn to get a slap around the head courtesy of Blue Hair.

"Xavier does not like non-magicals, remember?"

"Great answer, Savion. I am not surprised to see that it would be you." Xavier spoke up from behind them suddenly, startling them again.

"We cannot let this happen. Did you not study History in your schools on your respective planets? When magic was openly displayed among the non-magical beings on Earth, they were persecuted for it!"

"Hm. I see your point…" The woman shrugged.

"So do I..." Big Guy shrugged too.

"I certainly do!" Mohawk said.

"Well then, we will just have to bide our time until it is the right time to strike. I don't care much for world domination. I just want to keep things the way they should be. _No. Non. Magicals."_ Xavier breathed.

"Okay if you're done now, I've got a hair and nail appointment in Ovex…" The woman flicked her hair.

Xavier sighed. "Fine. Go then, Zilla. Payne, Drake-" He gestured to Big Guy and Mohawk respectively. "Go on home if you feel like it…"

"Hell yeah, I do feel like it!" Drake sped out the door while Payne lumbered behind.

"Savion, aren't you leaving?" Xavier raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh yeah, but I want to use your supercomputer first…" Savion held up a bunch of random tech gadgets.

"Go…" Xavier rolled his eyes and began to read a book, sinking into a nearby chair.

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><p>Well you folks know the drill. <em><strong>Review<strong>_ and let me know what you thought!


	2. An Inter Planetary Meeting

For this chapter, since we aren't allowed to write about real people on the site, I've used fictional people, but real countries instead. Also, I have twisted around some roles in the United Nations and how they work, mostly because I am not too familiar with how meetings are run.

_**Also I apologise to anyone who is offended by the remarks of some country's representatives in advance.**_

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><p>The United Nations building in New York City was buzzing with activity as they prepared for this all-important meeting.<p>

The leaders from each nation filed into the United Nations General Assembly Hall talking amongst themselves, some with an air of excitement, some with indifference and some with uncertainty.

"At this Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly taking place this Tuesday 8th June, 2010, we are here to discuss the revelation that magic is indeed real and there are worlds that exist alongside our own." The President of the UNGA Abdul Al- Zahrani, who was also the UN representative for the United Arab Emirates, stood addressing the full hall of world representatives.

"We have here with us several rulers from each of these planets. From the planet of Spectra we have their Prime Minister Chandler Morgan and Her Royal Highness Queen Tiana…" The screens behind them turned on to show video of where the two were sitting.

"Also with us are the President and Vice President of Wispera Aurora Hunter and Lee Seondo respectively, Prime Minister of ErendorTeboro Phillips and His Royal Majesty King Demetrius both of Erendor, Her Royal Highness Queen Adara of Nadir and President and Vice President of Alma Johan Tavares and Lindo Quentyne." He paused as everyone took in what all of these people looked like and their demeanour. The new Vice President of Alma, a man in his late thirties had short neat dark blue hair and brown eyes.

After the debacle that was the last fight with Radcliffe, Serafina had resigned from the position of Vice President of Alma in favour of travelling and enjoying life now that she was free from Radcliffe's grasp.

The GA murmured at this.

"Due to recent events their kind has been exposed to us. Magical beings have been walking among us for hundreds of years near-undetected. I have been informed that the Salem Witch Trials and similar events around the world had a portion of truth to them. While most of the persecutions and executions were of _non-magicals, _some of them were in fact real people with real powers."

The Hall murmured at this and the section with the magical beings present began to talk amongst themselves.

"And as such I pass the microphone to President Tavares, who will give us a brief magical history." Mr Al- Zahrani stepped aside as President Tavares came forward.

He nodded in acknowledgement.

"Good morning, leaders of Earth. As President of the planet that the villain that caused all of this came from, sorry to say, I will speak first. Magic: it's been around for thousands of years now, but for some reason, Earth has never been as magical as the rest of us. However this mess that blew up on Earth two months ago didn't start any time recently. Oh no. It started several centuries ago, back in 1110."

"Preposterous!" The representative of India, Sanjay Maharaj objected.

"Mr Maharaj, let President Tavares have his say…" Mr Al- Zahrani said warningly, glancing at the area where he sat.

President Tavares continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Back then, all the magical beings in the countries on your planet knew that the other countries existed. It was only those without powers, those not a part of the magical community, that did not know about it. Magicals from what is now called Japan knew where what is now called Guyana is and so on."

"It was during that time that Keepers were first revealed: five sixteen year old girls who could control each of what you call the Greek elements: "Water, Fire, Earth, Air and Aether, or as we call it simply: Energy. These girls were Ichigo from Japan, Madeline from France, Amora from Spain, Marjani from Benin and Anacaona from Guyana."

The hall began chattering again.

"Radcliffe was one of the seven Immortals who existed at the time."

"That's impossible! Immortality cannot exist! People will always die!" The representative of Haiti, Pierre DuFour spoke up.

"Well, _Monsieur Representative de Haiti_, I am sure that if you would listen you would find out a few things!" Tiana exclaimed angrily. "If you want to meet the one from my world, I'd be glad to call him here!"

The hall burst out muttering angrily.

"ENOUGH! Haiti Representative, I will ask you and everyone else to remain silent until their presentation is over or I will be forced to expel you from this session!" Mr Al-Zahrani exclaimed angrily.

Mr DuFour sunk back into his seat muttering resentfully.

As President Tavares ran through a history of what happened then until recently, the hall listened in rapt attention.

"And there I finish my segment of the presentation. Queen Tiana has agreed to present next." He finished.

The hall was dead silent as Tiana approached the podium looking quite different than usual with her thick hair straightened and pulled back into a low ponytail and wearing a navy blue pantsuit with a white blouse beneath the jacket and black heels.

"Thank you, President Tavares. Now, becoming the youngest monarch that the magical world has ever known at the age of fifteen following the death of my father (and my mother) and at the current age of nineteen am still thankfully alive and ruling, I am the closest in age to the Keepers and had a unique experience with them. Shortly after they learnt of the existence of their powers, they came on a tour of the magical worlds, mine included. They are all pretty decent people despite what some of you might think. Magic has not corrupted them; it certainly has not corrupted me- and my powers were present and active since birth." She looked some of them straight in the eyes as she spoke.

"However, it _did_ corrupt two of your citizens- Courtney Martinez of Canada and Alejandro Burromuerto of Spain."

The representatives of these two countries Jasper Monterrey and Marisol Vasquez respectively, narrowed their eyes at her.

"It wasn't magic alone however. Ms Martinez was motivated to join Radcliffe because he offered her something she wanted- power AND a chance for revenge on Gwen for an act that she had tried to make up for several times. And we believe that Mr Burromuerto did his part _mostly_ under duress. While during interrogation it was discovered that some tasks he was perfectly willing to do, when the tasks got more… _grim,_ he wavered. He is to have a review of his actions in a few month's time and if the magical committee is satisfied with the results, he will be released. Ms Vasquez if she so desires can be in attendance at this meeting as her magical visa will be automatically approved due to her standing."

After Tiana finished, Teboro, Adara and Aurora spoke next, detailing their planet's roles in the recent events.

When they had all finished, Mr Al-Zahrani resumed his place at the podium.

"Now that they have presented their side of the story, the floor is open to any questions from any country's representatives…" He swept his hand across the room.

"I say we give them a chance." The United States representative Mr Kevin Da Costa spoke up. "Discriminating against them is just like homophobia, racism, sexism and all the other "isms" in my opinion…"

The Greek representative Artemas Halkias spoke next. "I agree with my American comrade. We in Greece have no grudges against them. They have done nothing to us, so why should we be wary?"

An angry Saudi Arabian representative, Mohammad Rashid stood up. "Do you really expect my country to allow this evil witchcraft? Sharia law forbids it and it is punishable by _**death!**_"

All the magical leaders wore identical looks of outrage while many of the representatives of countries governed by Sharia law agreed with him.

"Really? That has always been a foolish approach to the matter! Kill a person just because of an ability that they were born with?! No wonder the Secrecy Laws were implemented centuries ago! You people would have reacted like this! And I don't see why- there has been at least one Saudi Keeper before!" Adara exclaimed angrily.

"_You people?_ What do you mean by _you people?_" Mohammad replied angrily.

"And you…" The representative of China Mao Shang pointed angrily at Tiana.

"What about me?" Tiana raised an eyebrow at the short Chinese man.

"How can you be trusted to be impartial in the judgement of Alejandro Burromuerto?! You are in a relationship with his older brother!"

Tiana drew back in her seat and glanced down at him as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You _cannot_ be bloody serious! I have no power in what the Inter-Planetary Magical Council decides! I can only grant pardons to criminals imprisoned and convicted on my own planet! This isn't even my jurisdiction! How dare you get personal, you short, little man!" She snapped, hair crackling.

"Short. _Short?_" He stood up angrily.

"ENOUGH!" Mr Al-Zahrani interrupted all the arguing and insult exchanges going on.

The auditorium went silent.

"This has gone horribly wrong and I can see that our worlds are not yet ready to accept one another. This is going to be detrimental to us all. One day we are going to need each other's help and by refusal to put aside our differences, disaster will strike! Just you wait and see…" He said in a grim tone.

"Meeting dismissed. Perhaps another time when we can behave more civilized to one another this will work…"

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><p>"That went well…" Tiana grumbled, rubbing her forehead.<p>

Carlos spoke softly to her in Spanish and even though she couldn't understand a word of what he said, she relaxed in his arms.

The young couple were sitting in Spectra's royal gardens and the queen had ranted to him about the disaster that was the meeting.

When she stormed into the palace earlier muttering and cursing angrily at what had happened, it had taken Marcus and several servants to get her to calm down enough to form coherent sentences, but not before Marcus called Carlos to the palace.

"This will work out soon for you and everyone else, mi señoritahermosa!" Carlos smiled at her.

"I guess so but this will be anything but easy. I need a drink…" She sighed.

"Oh no you don' this situation, you'll probably get drunk stupid…" He teased.

"Ha, Ha. Funny." Tiana rolled her eyes. "Ice-cream them? I think the royal kitchens have about a dozen different flavours in there…"

"That would be lovely, My Queen." He kissed her, making her giggle slightly.

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><p>"<em>Boy am I glad I don't have your job anymore, Lindo!"<em>Serafina's voice came through the speakerphone in his office as Johan sat nearby listening to the remarks he had made regarding the disastrous meeting.

"I'm almost tempted to join you Serafina…" Johan sighed, sinking further into her chair.

"_Not sure you'd want to. Radcliffe's castle is creepy as hell. All these years that I've been in it and I've never known its full layout…"_

"Tell us. Why exactly are you exploring that place again?" Lindo asked.

"_I figure I could make some good money off the history buffs by turning this place into a guided tour. You know, it actually stands on a large, stationary meteor that Radcliffe has put a cloaking spell on for hundreds of years? Once I figure out how to lift that, I am going to have a fun new job…" _She chuckled.

"Uh huh… And the autobiography?" Johan asked.

"_I've been working on that for years. Should be finished before the end of the summer. Guaranteed bestseller- people will be queuing up with publishing offers since the public is so interested in my story! Just have to figure out what to call it…"_

"Serafina, if you could work towards bringing down Radcliffe and fooling him for 38 years, I'm sure you could come up with a good title for your autobiography…" Johan said.

"Truer words have never been spoken." Lindo agreed.

"_Sure. Anyways, I'm gonna let you two guys go back to moaning and groaning about that disastrous meeting. Over and out!"_

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><p>"That meeting was an absolute disaster…" Adara sat with Sierra in the Nadiri palace's royal dining room having dinner.<p>

"What happened?" The princess asked.

"Accusations, personal insults and the like being thrown back and forth, etc. Earth will not accept magical beings like that…"

"Kinda expected that really. With the way they behaved before the Secrecy Laws were implemented…" Sierra sighed, fiddling with her spaghetti.

"Hard to believe that you father came from such a hardass planet Sierra. Seriously." Adara leaned back in her chair.

"_I know, right?"_ Sierra asked, stabbing a meatball viciously with her fork.

"Perhaps one day things will get better, but for now, the humans will just have to deal with us…"

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><p>"That was absolutely horrid." Aurora sank into her chair with a drink in her hands.<p>

"Well, it could have been worse…" Lee shrugged, taking a sip from his mug.

Aurora raised her eyebrows at him. "How could it have possibly been worse?"

"Well, you could have ended up hexing that Saudi rep and getting a fatwa issued on your head…"

"I'd like to see them try. Besides, how are they going to even get to Radnor? For any non-magicals to enter our world and the others, they need a special visa and be personally granted minor magic powers by one of our immigration officials!" Aurora chortled.

"Truth!" Lee raised his mug to meet hers.

* * *

><p>"Well, wasn't that <em>fun.<em>" Demetrius muttered sarcastically, lounging beside his wife in their relaxation room.

Sean was being a typical toddler running around the room like a nut and giggling madly as he threw around a beach ball.

"It's going to be long road ahead for you Demetrius. For u_s. _Are you ready to take that on?" Hera held his hand and looked at her husband seriously.

"I am, but I'm not sure I'm going to like it. One bit…"

"That's what you get for being born a king, dear husband!" Hera teased.

"Like I could control that…" Demetrius rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of being born royalty, how's your brother doing? I haven't seeing much of him since _the incident…_" Hera asked curiously.

Demetrius frowned. "He recovered well physically but he has changed. My little brother isn't as happy-go-lucky as he used to be. Don't get me wrong, he didn't turn into an emo or anything like that, but he's just much more reserved than he used to be. And I didn't even think he knew what the word 'reserved' even _meant…_" He sighed.

"Well going through what he did would do that to a person after all…" Hera said.

_SPLASH!_

Sean had fallen into the pool.

Hera looked at him and sighed. "I'll get him…" Hera snapped her fingers and changed into a swimsuit instantly and jack-knife dived into the pool.


	3. Not All Fun and Games

While most people would be outside enjoying the typical nice summer day, the Keepers were in their Den, engaged in various activities. But then again they weren't exactly most people…

"_Come on Heather! Let's do this! It'll be fun! Please, please, PLEASE! I beg you!" _Izzy thought from her room.

"_Absolutely not. I still don't quite trust you anywhere near me_…" Heather was in her room, lounging on a hammock.

"_After all we've been through and you still don't trust me?"_ Izzy pouted.

"_With good reason."_

"_You're just scared I'll win."_

Heather sighed. _"I'm not scared you'll win at all! I'll do it!"_

"_This one I've got to see…"_ Gwen thought.

"_I'm with you on this one…"_ Bridgette chuckled.

Lindsay, who had just arrived, paused at the door to her room with a puzzled expression on her face.

"_What's going on?"_ She asked.

"_Izzy is challenging Heather to a race to see who can fly faster. Don't know why- she never asked us…" _Gwen shrugged, leaving her room and finding everyone in the common area.

"I don't see why you're challenging me." Heather said.

"Come now, Heather! You're my _friiiiiieeeeeeeeennnnnnndddd d…_ I just want to have fun!" Izzy exclaimed.

"Weirdest friendship ever." Heather muttered.

"True story..." Bridgette nodded in agreement.

"Are we going to do this or not?" Izzy asked impatiently.

"Yes, we are. I said I would after all…" Heather was the first to exit the Den.

Once all five girls were outside, they transformed and flew up into the air.

Gwen magicked up a racer flag and held it up.

"Ready?" She asked.

The Earth and Fire Keepers nodded.

Some inhabitants of the town saw them in the air and began to get excited, some of them leaving the buildings that they were in to watch, others peering out windows, doors and vehicles, many of them with cameras in hand.

"Ready, Firecracker?" Heather smirked at her opponent.

"I sure am, Ivy!" Izzy cackled.

"And to make things more interesting…" Gwen smiled mischievously.

Heather and Izzy looked at one another.

"You can put obstacles in each other's way to attempt to slow the other down, but you **cannot **use something that would hurt them of course. First to reach the edge of town and back wins."

Heather glared at the Energy Keeper. _"You hate me, don't you?"_ She asked.

"_Hate is such a strong word…"_ Gwen smirked.

Heather deadpanned.

Bridgette and Lindsay looked at one another.

"Wanna take a bet?" Lindsay asked.

"Nope. Can't predict this matchup…" Bridgette commented.

"Ready you two?" Gwen asked.

The Fire and Earth Keeper nodded.

Gwen brought down the flag. "GO!"

Heather and Izzy took off like speeding rockets.

"_Focus, focus…" _Heather thought as she zoomed along.

Something hot zoomed over her head.

"AHAHAHA!"

"_What the hell?" _Heather looked back to see a flame ball soar over her head.

"_Ooh…"_ Bridgette and Lindsay winced.

Heather's expression changed to one of determination.

"You wanna play that way? Fine." Heather flew forward, hands stretched out in front of her and body straighter than an arrow.

And speaking of arrows…

A flaming one narrowly missed her legs.

"IZZY!"

"Aww…" Izzy pouted. "I wanted to see what it would be like to take an arrow to the knee…"

"THAT MEME IS OLD!" Heather roared.

"HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT A MEME IS?" Izzy shouted back, dodging the boulder thrown at her by the irritated Earth Keeper and surging ahead of her.

The people on the ground were snapping pictures like crazy and cheering.

Heather caught up to Izzy just as the Fire Keeper reached the edge of town and was turning back around.

"_You wanna play dirty? Then fine!" _Heather smirked.

A pile of dirt suddenly appeared right above Izzy.

She sputtered and choked as the dirt got into her eyes, nose and mouth.

Heather laughed as she zoomed past her.

Bridgette and Lindsay were alongside Gwen lounging back in mid-air making casual commentary when Gwen's eyes flashed.

"_They're coming…" _She thought to them.

The two floated upright and took note of the two speeding blurs in the distance.

"Aaaaaaaand the winner iiiiiiiiiiiiissssss…"

A red and orange blur and a black and green blur sped past them, sending them spinning like tops.

When Gwen recovered, she replayed this scene in her mind.

"Heather."

Izzy stopped in her tracks and her hair which was sticking up in the air and in flames went flat and back to normal.

"Wait… Heather beat me at my own challenge?" Izzy's eyes widened as Heather hovered over to the other three Keepers, a triumphant expression on her face.

"I most certainly did." Heather smiled smugly as she floated over to the other three Keepers.

Smoke started pouring out of Izzy's ears.

"Oh boy…"

Izzy went on a tirade and the other four Keepers watched with expressions of disbelief.

"Never thought Izzy could get this angry…" Bridgette commented.

"I thought there were only seven dirty words…" Lindsay said awe.

"Not if you're Izzy apparently…" Gwen's eyes went wide.

Some of the people on the ground were watching in awe and those who had children covered their ears.

Izzy soon snapped out of it. "Okay, breathe Izzy, breathe… No need to completely lose it…"

"_She already has…"_ Heather muttered to the others.

The group landed and were soon surrounded by several admirers.

"Can I have your autograph?" One eager little curly-haired blond boy asked, holding out his pen and a notepad to Bridgette.

"Sure." Bridgette beamed, kneeling down to his height. "Now who should I make this out to?"

"Oh my gosh! It's Lindsay! Eee!" A girl their age with light brown curly hair in a bun squealed, jumping up and down excitedly. "Can I like, have a picture with you? I like, totally wanna prove to the girls at school I met you…"

"Of course!" Lindsay replied cheerfully.

The two jumped up and down together squealing as the girl's friend took the picture and then changed places.

Similar things went on for a few minutes until someone teleported into the scene and some of the crowd turned to look in amazement.

Nasira was striding through them, parting the crowd with no effort at all, all of them stepping away from her, feeling very intimidated.

"Oh, hello Nasira. What's the matter?" Gwen asked, noting her expression.

"We need to talk…" She tapped her staff twice on the ground, teleporting them away while the people who were staring before stare even more at the spot she disappeared from.

* * *

><p>"I'm sure you are well aware that the United Nations meeting with our leaders did not go very well." Nasira spoke.<p>

All the leaders, Keepers and Immortals were seated around a large, round table in Wispera's Presidential Office building.

"_That is an understatement…" _Tiana muttered darkly.

"Do we **really** want to know what happened in there?" Bridgette asked.

"You don't want to, but you'll have to…" President Hunter gave a rundown of what happened.

The Keepers' faces went blank.

"You're _kidding._" Izzy said in disbelief.

"I wish she was…" Adara grumbled.

"What are we going to do?" Lindsay asked worriedly.

"Well, some of the countries there as well as our planets have extended an offer of asylum to any magic users, their families and friends who are being persecuted because of all of this so there's a start. Canada's on board of course, along with the United States, the United Kingdom, Greece, France, Germany, Australia and Japan. The others have either outright refused or are still ambivalent about the situation…" President Tavares spoke, counting off those countries on his fingers.

"And we all are already being flooded with requests. The Department of Magical Immigration has never been so busy…" King Demetrius sighed.

"You're telling me. I went to visit our Department before I came here and it was pure chaos in there!" Tiana exclaimed.

The Keepers looked at one another in amazement.

"As you can see, things aren't going as well as we would like- although that was to be expected…" Hasim shrugged.

"But there's always that new season of Total Drama coming out. Maybe that will how some people that we're not all bad…" Lindsay trailed off.

"Because the people of Earth will totally rely on a realty show for credible information after an era of Kim Kardashians and Paris Hiltons…" Samuel commented sarcastically.

"Not to mention the other idiots out there… excluding you five of course…." Marcus added flatly.

"What's the new cast like, anyway?" Heather asked curiously.

"Shane and the production crew pulled a fairly interesting cast together, I can tell you that." Samuel said.

"You're going back as Chef Hatchett?" Izzy raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, why not? I don't see the harm. And I get to see a part of Earth's Magical Renaissance play out right in front of me…" Samuel shrugged. "And I must tell you- the company will want you all to come to the show as separate cameos, along with a few of the old contestants. _Paid_ cameos."

Lindsay clapped her hands and squealed. "I'm so glad to be a part of this!"

"Yes, you are excited about that, but keep in mind that this journey is not going to be all fun and games. You have seen that humans are not fully accepting of magical beings but the reverse is also true. Magical beings both here and in other worlds are not fully accepting of the non-magicals…" Alyssa said.

The room's atmosphere hardened.

"There are some of us… that feel that magic should be completely separated from magic." Tiana explained.

"They want nothing to do with Earth's non-magicals and feel that extending our outreach to the non-magical relatives and friends of those being persecuted is going way too far…" Alyssa said.

"But people who have been ingrained with such beliefs usually find them hard to change, even when confronted with proof so what can _we_ do?" Gwen asked.

Samuel sighed. "Do your best. Don't use your powers unless you need to, don't abuse them and don't give anyone the chance to accuse you of doing so. The governments mentioned before are creating departs within them to deal with the Renaissance but as you can understand, this is still a touchy area..."

"Got it." They all nodded.

* * *

><p>"Simply fantastic!" Xaver smiled as he read his latest newspaper.<p>

"What is?" Zilla commented, lounging lazily in an armchair.

Savion, Drake and Payne entered the room.

"What's up?" Drake asked, chugging down a soda and burping loudly. Zilla looked at him in disgust.

"Read this." He tossed his newspaper to them which Payne caught.

"Give me that, you big lug! Like you can read anyway…" Savion snatched it away from him.

Zilla walked over to them and hovered slightly above the ground, reading over Payne's shoulder.

The lone female chuckled. "Looks like you're getting what you wanted Xavier. And you didn't even have to lift a finger…"

"We get to just sit back and watch everything fall apart. Great entertainment- and it's free!" Drake snickered.

"It wouldn't hurt to make things more interesting though…" Xavier clasped his hands in front of him and fiddled his fingers.

"But we're going to take a different approach to things. Radcliffe might have been an Immortal with several centuries' worth of knowledge, but he was an idiot. You never make your true intentions know until you make your final move! Anyone with a brain should know that…" Xavier exclaimed.

"Apparently Radcliffe did not develop one during all those years of being a stereotypical evil villain." Savion remarked dryly.

"Savion, Savion, _Savion._" Xavier got up from his chair and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We're not evil. We'll be doing our kind a service by keeping magicals and non-magicals apart! They may not see it now but it's _for their own good!_" He spoke with a glimmer in his eyes.


	4. Summer Fun Or Lack Thereof

"So Bridgette dear, now that summer is here, what do you plan on doing with it?"

The Water Keeper and her mother were lounging around in their living room, both eating ice-cream. Mrs Summers' flavour of choice was cookies and cream while Bridgette preferred strawberry.

"You know Mum, I don't really know. I mean ever since the Keeper thing came about, life has changed so much for me so I don't really know what I'm going to do tomorrow, far less for the whole summer…"

"Bridgette, honey, you should go with the flow! You don't know what the future holds so go enjoy yourself and stop worrying! Where's the carefree daughter I used to have?" Her mother asked.

"You're right mum. Time to go out and have some fun at the beach!" Bridgette cheered.

"That's the spirit!" Her mum smiled. "And you will be wearing a bikini this time! If you've got it, flaunt it, honey!"

Bridgette giggled. "Oh no I won't."

"Yes you will."

"Absolutely not."

"Absolutely yes!"

Bridgette and her mother stared each other down until the Water Keeper looked away.

"I'll only wear it this once!" Bridgette relented.

"Oh goody!" Her mother jumped up and down in excitement and Bridgette rolled her eyes at this.

Minutes later, they were in her mother's car driving along on their way to the beach, both with their blonde hair whipping around behind them in the breeze with Mrs Summers wearing a pair of black shades and a sun hat.

Soon enough they pulled up to the beach and began unloading their gear.

"The beach. Seems like forever since I last saw it…" Bridgette sighed as she shrugged off her sundress to reveal a lilac boy shorts bikini with white polka-dots and a matching halter-top that showed off her stomach and proceeded to roll her hair up in a bun.

Her mother wore a simple light green one-piece swimsuit.

As they walked along the beach together, people began to chatter and whisper.

"_Look its Bridgette Summers!"_

"_The surfer chick from Total Drama!"_

"_Forget that, she's the Water Keeper!"_

"Can I like, have your autograph?" A surfer dude ran up to her, holding out a sheet of paper and pen.

Bridgette smiled.

"Sure." She signed it and the surfer dude ran off to his friends to show it off.

Soon several other people began to run up to her, begging for autographs as well.

Several minutes later, Bridgette had finished with them all and walked off looking for her mother.

"Sorry about that, mum. The fans are really out there in their numbers today…" She said, fixing her beach chair and flopping into it.

"No worries."

Bridgette magicked up her Elemental Book and began reading it, idly leafing through the pages.

When she glanced up, she saw a little boy and his mother walking past. The little boy looked at her in amazement, but when the mother saw him looking, she gave Bridgette a dirty look and hauled him off.

Bridgette raised an eyebrow at this.

"_Seriously?"_ She thought.

She sighed and decided to go surfing, picking up the dark blue surfboard with gold stars all over it that she had acquired to treat herself after her latest adventure.

Running out to the water with it, she paddled in on it and once she got a certain distance out, she stood up.

Her bun had come loose and her hair was flapping in the wind as she finally caught the waves after a long, _long_ time.

She laughed as she did her favourite activity and her mother couldn't help but beam as she saw her daughter's happiness.

Lots of people, even other people in the water stopped to admire her skill and began cheering.

Not all of them were pleased however.

"Stupid little girl showing off her stupid powers. She's a damn freak!" One young woman muttered.

Mrs Summers frowned and walked up to the woman, tapping on her shoulder.

"_What?"_ She snapped, whipping around.

"I do believe that's _my daughter_ you're talking about in such a horrid manner..." Mrs Summers glared.

"Yeah, so what are you gonna do about it, you old hag?"

_**WHAM.**_

"OUCH!" The woman backed away from Mrs Summers' outstretched fist, the owner of which had her eyes narrowed at her.

"_OHHHHHHH!" _Some of the people on the beach watched this confrontation in amazement.

"MY NOSE! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" The woman shrieked, running off.

Bridgette ran over to her, surfboard in hand.

"Mom! Are you alright? What happened?" She asked worriedly.

"Nothing much. Just some woman being an asshole…" Her mother shrugged and began to pack up.

The Water Keeper looked at her mother in shock.

Bridgette picked up on her mother's emotions and sensed it was more than just that, especially as she had never seen her mother so pissed off before…

* * *

><p>Izzy and her parents were on their way somewhere in their car and the Fire Keeper was very excited about it.<p>

"Oh, this is gonna be so much _fuuuuun..._" Izzy cackled in glee. "After everything that happened recently, I'm glad I get to go on this nice family trip!"

Her mother turned to look at her incredulously.

"_**You?**_ Wanting a nice, quiet family trip?" Mrs Andrews raised an eyebrow. "What are you planning?" She asked suspiciously.

"Nothing! Nothing at all, mother dear!"

The look on Izzy's face did nothing to convince her.

As her father drove, Izzy leaned back in her seat and began to fiddle idly with her powers, making a small dragon in her hands.

Her father noticed this through the rear view mirror.

"Isabella, put the dragon out before you set this car on fire. _Now,_ please."

Too late- the back seat of the car had already caught fire.

Izzy's eyes widened. _"Oh shit…"_

"OUT THE CAR, NOW!" She yelled.

Her parents didn't need to be told twice as they bolted from the car screaming.

Izzy somersaulted out the car window and onto the ground.

People nearby had gathered and were panicking.

"And it never occurred to them to run away from the burning car. Seriously, why do people run from rain and TO GODDAMN FIRE?!" She shouted as flames engulfed her as she transformed.

She flexed her hands and flew forward to the car, lifting it above her head and flying up into the air.

With an almighty effort, she threw it into the air, encasing in in a sphere of fire, inside which it exploded, raining ash and charred car parts onto the street below.

"Our car!" Izzy's mother exclaimed.

"Don't worry about the car, ma. I'll buy you a new one!" Izzy exclaimed.

Her parents looked at one another, puzzled.

"With _what?_" Her father asked.

"Money, of course! Izzy got an endorsement deal for an energy drink in Wispera!" She cheered.

"_Like she even needs the drink…"_ Her father whispered to her mother.

"I may not need it, but it sure tastes good and they're paying me for drinking something I like!" Izzy popped up suddenly behind them, nearly giving her parents a coronary.

"Heh-heh. Sorry…" She apologised, seeing her parents' expressions.

"That was so cool!"

The people nearby began to recover.

Some were watching in awe and some in fear.

"Are we still headed to the museum?" Izzy asked.

Her parents shook their heads.

"I'm sorry about the car, mom, and dad. I promise I'll get you a nice, new one, I promise. But for now, let Izzy treat you to something special!"

"Like _what?_" Mrs Andrews raised an eyebrow.

"Let's go back home and I'll make the arrangements for it. _But_ not before I sign some autographs…" Izzy said, noting some people around them searching their person frantically for something for her to sign.

Hours later, Izzy and her parents were all dressed up.

"Where are we going?"

"I made reservations at a lovely restaurant in town. You'll like it. There's something there for all of us." Izzy transformed and held both of her parents in her hands and flew them through the door and all the way to the restaurant, them freaking out the whole time.

In its parking lot, the Fire Keeper de-transformed and they walked to the door.

"Bienvenue a Le Chateau Marmont. I am Pierre." The host greeted them.

"Hi there Pierre! I'm Isabella Andrews!" Izzy exclaimed. "But call me Izzy!"

"Oh, I know who you are all right…" He muttered under his breath.

Izzy raised an eyebrow at his tone.

Later on, they were seated at their table perusing the menu.

"So what do you guys want? Remember, the sky's the limit!" She exclaimed.

People in the restaurant were eying them with different expressions such as admiration, apprehension and even fear.

Izzy's parents noticed this and were nervous about it, but if Izzy did, she showed no signs of it.

"Hmm… Frog's Legs… Escargot… I just might try those…"

Her parents' eyes widened.

"Ah no. I think I'll just go for the pâté instead…" Izzy wore an expression of contemplation.

The waiter came to their table.

"Are you ready to order?" he asked.

"Mum, dad, you can go ahead and order. I'm not quite sure what I want yet…" Izzy pouted.

They did so and the waiter brought back their food within good time.

"Wow. Great service, buddy!" Izzy cheered.

"My name is not _Buddy,_ Mademoiselle." He said with contempt. "My name is Jean-Claude…"

"Okay, okay, sheesh! Alright. I'll have…" Izzy stroked her chin in contemplation. "…the Coq Au Vin!" She announced.

The waiter nodded and walked briskly off.

"So, mom, dad. How are you enjoying this place?" She asked.

"It's… nice." Her father nodded in approval. "How did _you_ even find out about this place?"

"Flew past it about a week ago." She said casually, looking at her nails.

The waiter finally brought her dinner and she dug into it eagerly, making some of the other patrons of the restaurant look repulsed.

"What?" She asked, looking around with food in her hair and all over face.

When they finally finished their meal and Izzy had paid, they walked along outside the restaurant.

"That was fun." Izzy was smiling.

"And it went pretty well. I'm impressed!" Mr Andrews said.

"Indeed. I almost expected you start a food fight- or worse in there!" Mrs Andrews nodded in agreement.

"I won't lie. The idea tempted me, but I wanted you guys to have a good time. After everything that's happened in the past few months, I'll be glad for any quality time I can spend with you all…"

She transformed and flew her parents back home.

Wanting a night flight, she went back out again.

"_No need to worry the parentals about anything."_ She thought as she flew. _"There's no need to tell them about the flip side of all this…"_

* * *

><p>Gwen was spending some quality time with her younger brother Matthew at a local cinema.<p>

"RAWR!" The monster on the screen roared as the onscreen people ran screaming in terror.

Gwen and Matthew yawned.

"Seen better movies…" Matthew yawned again.

"Seen scarier creatures for real." She said.

Her brother looked at her in awe.

"Quit it." She told him flatly.

"What?" He shrugged.

"That worshipful look. I don't like it." Gwen glared.

"Okay, okay, sheesh!" He turned back to the movie.

After it was done, the pair walked out of the cinema to be greeted by a mob of cameras.

"We heard Gwen Callahan was here!" One of the guys with a camera shouted.

"Oh boy…" Gwen sighed.

"Gwen! What's your next move now that you've offed that bad guy?"

"Gwen! Gwen! What does Trent think of all this?"

"What does _Duncan_ think of all this?"

"Who _CARES_ what Duncan thinks?!" Gwen and Matthew asked in unison.

They looked at one another before bolting, leaving the eager masses behind.

"That was a close one." Gwen breathed.

"Why do I get the feeling that was only the beginning?" Matthew asked, doubled over and out of breath.

"Because it _was _just the beginning. I was already famous for being on Total Drama and having the fact that I am the Energy Keeper exposed to the world only served to amplify that fame by tons!" Gwen exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.

"Wow. Must be rough having to deal with all that…" Matthew said.

"Yep. It certainly isn't easy. I can only imagine what it's going to be like when I go back to school…" Gwen shuddered at the thought.

"Ay. The guys at school will be asking me if I can introduce you. They're major fanboys of yours now…" He shuddered.

Gwen shuddered as well.

"Can you imagine how it is having half the male population of the school crushing on your sister? It's kinda gross. Combine that with me starting High School and it's gonna be _real fun._" Matthew grimaced.

"Just don't introduce any of them to me and we'll be fine." Gwen said.

"I don't think they'll wait to be introduced…" Matthew pointed out.

Gwen groaned, putting her face in her hands.

"Let's go home, sis." Matthew put an arm around his older sister's shoulder.

Gwen's eyes flashed for a moment.

"Uh-oh."

"What's the matter?" Matthew raised an eyebrow.

"Paparazzi are on their way here. Let's move!" She exclaimed.

She swiped her hand, making a portal appear in front of them and shoved him in.

The portal disappeared just in time before people began to arrive where they heard she was and groaned in disappointment when they saw she wasn't there.

"_I hate this so much…"_ She grumbled as she and her brother made their way to the kitchen to make some snacks before they settled in to watch TV.

Her brother flicked some hair out of his eye and turned on the TV, leaning further back into his chair as he did.

"_We've got the latest news on Gwen Callahan right here on…_ _**Celebrity Manhu-**_"

He changed the channel.

"_In __**The Entertainment Scoop,**__ a Keeper spending quality time with her brother! Gwen Callahan, a former Total Drama contestant turned heroine as the Energy Keeper was spotted today with her younger brother Matthew at a cinema in the town of Crescent Vale…"_

And again.

"_**Celebrity Watch Today…**__ Keeper Gwen: Heroine or Menace? Rumours suggest that her powers aren't so great after all…"_

He stopped short at this one as he and his sister watched whit impassive expressions as the reporter rambled on.

"_We all witnessed the exposure of magic to the world back in April, where she and the other four "Keepers" were contestants on that now infamous season finale of Total Drama World Tour."_

A picture flashed on the screen of Gwen and Heather fighting against Radcliffe and Courtney alongside Cody, Sierra, Ezekiel and Samuel while the other Keepers got the other contestants and Chris back to safety.

"_The information we have learnt since suggests that she is a pretty heartless individual willing to do anything! Take her betrayal of Courtney Martinez, her fellow former contestant in that show shall we? If she hadn't kissed her delinquent now-ex-boyfriend Duncan Martin would she have _gone down the dark path in a quest for revenge? _ We don't think so."_

"_He _kissed _me!_" Gwen exclaimed angrily.

"Time to turn this shit off…" Matthew pressed the off button.

"At least Marilyn, Pixie Corpse and Reaper are still on your side right?" Matthew shrugged.

"Well, there is that at least…" Gwen shrugged.

* * *

><p>"Whosa kitty? <em>Whosa<em> kitty?" Heather was lying over the edge of her bed dangling a small vine she'd made, playing with her cat Bruiser.

No one would have believed it if they saw it.

Heather Aoki had a heart and loved cats- not ate them.

"_Whosa cutie?_ Yeah, you are Bruiser! Oh yes you are!" She hoisted Bruiser into the air and he began purring loudly.

Heather hugged him close to her and he began licking her face.

"Hahaha! Cut it out Bruiser!" She laughed.

He mewed happily.

"HEATHER!" Her mother called up to her.

Heather sighed and put Bruiser gently down.

"Yes, mom?" She called back.

"We're having a dinner party this evening. Be ready." Mrs Aoki called up.

Heather rolled her eyes. "Sure..."

"One of the parents' stuffy dinner parties again…" She sighed.

"Now what to wear?" Heather flung open her vast closet.

Bruiser walked over to her, mewling.

"I'll get you some food later buddy, but I've got a more important issue right now. What do I wear on such short notice?" She pondered, looking through her various clothing choices.

"Miao!" Bruiser brushed his tail against a particular dress.

"_Hmmm…"_Heather looked at his selection and took it off the rack.

It was a backless red shimmery mermaid style dress with clear and black gems around a broad collar.

"Wow. Bruiser you've got some fashion sense!" She too the dress out of the closet and held it to herself in the mirror.

"Perfect!" She exclaimed.

"Thanks a lot, buddy." She leaned down to pet him.

"Now let's go get you some breakfast." She smiled at him before scooping him up in her arms and carrying him downstairs.

Later that day, Heather while getting ready for her parents' dinner party let her hair down from the ponytail she had grown accustomed to and ran her fingers through it. It had grown in the past few months and was now about an inch below her shoulder.

"Hmm… Hair's growing back. I think I'll keep it at this length though…" She rolled her hair up into a bun and proceeded to do her makeup.

Minutes later she went down the stairs to see some of the early arrivals.

As soon as she put in an appearance, some of the guests looked around at each other and began whispering.

Her mother walked over to her.

"Heather, sweetheart some of the guests are rather… uneasy about your abilities. Could you tone it down while they're here and not use your powers unless you absolutely need to?"

Heather nodded.

"Except for my good friend Angelique." Mrs Aoki gestured to a tall, black woman with her hair in short ear-length dreadlocks.

"This is Angelique Barriteau-Henri. She is visiting me from Port-Au-Prince. She was my roommate in college when we were both international students whose English was not the best." She said, smiling at the memory.

"Please to meet you." Angelique said with a slight accent.

"She is actually very interested in the re-emergence of magic and is hoping to write a book about it." Heather's mother explained.

"Oh?" Heather raised an eyebrow.

Angelique nodded. "C'est vrai. Unlike certain _autres _people out there I wish to seek the truth about all of this. I find it fascinating."

"So you're saying… You want an interview?" Heather asked.

Angelique nodded.

"What do you think Heather?" Mrs Aoki asked.

Heather nodded her ascent.

"Brilliant!" Angelique beamed. "Let's walk and talk."

As they moved away, Mrs Aoki re-joined her husband and they mingled with their guests.

"_Isn't their daughter a freak now?"_ One woman whispered to her husband.

"_She could turn into some freaky plant monster for all we know!"_ Another person whispered.

The Aokis ignored them.

Jillian and Damien were near a refreshments table talking.

"I've heard some things I don't like at all…" Jillian said, scowling at some of the guests.

"Yeah, I mean Heather might be fun to pull pranks on but I don't like anyone _else_ trash talking my sister…" Damien frowned.

"So… Magic, huh? What's the magical universe like?" Angelique asked.

"It's… Really fascinating to me. I mean when I first learnt of it, I was completely in awe. Everything is so different in the Magiverse…" Heather commented.

"_Magiverse? _Is that what you call it?"

"It's called many things. It doesn't just have one name…" Heather shrugged.

"Do you have a blog? So you can tell your own story to the public?" Angelique asked curiously.

"Nope." Heather shook her head. "The others and I are thinking of starting an official vlog on YouTube though. Who knows?"

"And the backlash? How are you handling that?"

Heather frowned.

"Doing my best. The non-magicals are having trouble with the magical people and the magical people are having trouble with the non-magicals… This is going to be an interesting time in our history…"

"I see that…" Angelique nodded before glancing around, noticing Jillian and another woman her age squabbling with a few people gathered around them.

Heather followed her line of vision and frowned.

"I think this talk is over for now…" Heather walked over, parting the crowd.

"What's going on here, Jilly?" Heather folded her arms.

"This bitch-" Jillian pointed angrily at the woman in front of her who was not much older than them both who was seething.

"Was calling you a freak talking crap about your powers and all."

"I think it is time for me to take my leave. I will not remain under the same roof with such a dangerous person and if you fail to see that, then you are not worthy of my presence." The woman strode out the door in a haughty matter.

Unknown to everyone else, Heather manipulated the gravel outside, causing the woman to trip and fall flat on her face.

Everyone inside began snickering.

Heather took Jillian aside.

"Why did you defend me back there Jilly?" Heather asked curiously.

"Because as much as I used to call you that before, you are _not_ a freak, little sister. We might antagonise each other sometimes but blood is thicker than water." Jillian said seriously.

"Thanks for that, Jilly." Heather smiled slightly.

"No problem!" Jillian grinned. "Was it you that caused Lena to fall?"

Heather smirked in response.

* * *

><p>Lindsay and her friends were hanging out in her room, having a sleepover. For some reason they were sitting on the floor of her large closet, some of them doing each other's hair.<p>

"Oh my gosh, Lindsay these shoes are so totally cute! Where'd you get them?" One of her guests exclaimed, holding up a pair of lilac strappy high heels embedded with diamonds as if it were a holy object.

Lindsay took the shoes back gently from her friend. "These I got from Spectra. Queen Tiana has shoes like these and she saw that I liked them so she put me in touch with the designer who gave me a pair of my own!" She exclaimed.

"That's so cool!" Another girl exclaimed.

"You know royalty…" Yet a next girl said in awe.

"And the best part is that he wants me to endorse his clothes and model them for him sometime!" Lindsay said in excitement.

All the girls present squealed.

"You're gonna be a _model?_" Their eyes shone.

"Not full-time because of my other stuff I have to do, being a Keeper and all…" Lindsay shrugged as the girl doing her hair finished it.

Everyone in the room went silent and the atmosphere hardened, which Lindsay even being as… _slow_ as she was sometimes did not fail to notice.

"What? What did I say?" She asked, puzzled.

"It's just with you being a "Keeper" and all; you're not going to have that much time to spend with us anymore!" The girl who did her hair, a girl with light brown wavy hair and hazel eyes said, pouting.

"You're going to be off fighting ickle bad guys and getting hurt!" Another girl, a Native Canadian with her black hair in a cute pixie cut said, frowning.

"Not to mention the horrible stuff I've heard about you…" The girl who had admired Lindsay's shoes earlier said quietly, fiddling with a lock of her dark blonde hair.

"Horrible stuff like _what..._" Lindsay said dangerously, making some of the girls draw away from her in fright.

"That you're a freak…"

"That you're a demon in a girl's body."

"That you're the Antichrist."

"Wait, WHAT?"

"I've never heard that one before…"

"Where did you hear that Lindsay was the Antichrist from, Allison?"

"I read it on the internet!"

"Allison can read?" Another girl raised an eyebrow.

"HEY!" Allison exclaimed indignantly.

"I've heard a lot of those and I'm trying not to let them get to me." Lindsay said coolly examining her nails.

"How do you handle all that?" One girl asked in awe. "My sister went practically crazy when the rival cheerleader at our school spread rumours about her sleeping with the entire football team…"

"Really? I didn't hear about that one! How did Chelsea take it?"

"Trust me- you don't wanna know…"

"Enough of that!" Lindsay exclaimed.

The room went silent.

"I've heard all the rumours about me, but with me being the Antichrist? Seriously?" Lindsay said incredulously.

"Do I _look_ like an Antichrist to you?" Lindsay transformed and hovered slightly above the ground.

"Of course not! You look cute!" The Native Canadian girl said.

"I'm here to _help_ people, not _harm_ them…" Lindsay made some visible sound waves and floated them around the room, surrounding some of the girls as they looked on this display in awe.

"I'm not evil…" Lindsay used her telekinesis on a nearby vase, twirling it around in the air.

"People don't seem to think that…" Lindsay pouted, landing and de-transforming.

"We're all behind you Lindsay!" The girl who did her hair nodded.

All the girls in the room crowded around her for a group hug.

"We've got your back, Lindsay!"

"We're your friends!"

"We'll stick with you to the very end, Linds!" Another cheered.

They all high-fived.

"Thanks girls." Lindsay beamed.

"Now I've got some interesting stories to tell you about the Magiverse…"


	5. Things Are Not What They Appear

Go read my Danny Phantom/Total Drama oneshot _**"Charred Memories"**_- my latest work! I'd love some reviews on that as well as this of course!

* * *

><p>StellaVita Modelling Agency in Radnor, Wispera was hosting its annual End-Of-Summer Fashion Show in grand style at the Radnor Performing Arts Centre.<p>

People from all across the realms were decked out in their best formal garb for the occasion, gathering in the largest hall within the centre which had been suitably arranged for the event about to occur.

There was an extremely large pearly white stage with a large catwalk protruding from it, partially hidden by shimmery silver curtains.

The seats were all covered in white cloth and tied back with a black bow.

It was in the midst of all this that the Keepers themselves arrived and were ushered to their seats on one side of the catwalk by a woman in a grey pantsuit- the standard uniform for all the ushers there.

"This is going to be so amazing!" Lindsay squealed. Her hair was in a curled ponytail over her shoulder and she wore a long-sleeved gold coloured knee-length dress which flared at the hem.

"Meh. A fashion show is a fashion show, no matter where you go…" Gwen shrugged, donning a high-necked thigh-length black dress and the Silver Star.

"I know you don't really care, but _I_ for one would actually enjoy this, seeing how it differs from an Earth one…" Heather commented, her hair held back by a purple headband and wearing a purple form-fitting short-sleeved long dress that showed off her legs in the front.

Substituting her regular ponytail in favour of a bun tied with a light blue bow, Bridgette wore an ankle-length strapless light blue dress and the simple gold chain necklace with a crystal heart-shaped pendant that Magalie had given to her.

Izzy donned a backless white halter-top dress with dark green collar and sash around the waist and had her hair in a layered hairstyle with side-swept bangs.

"This is gonna be great! I can't wait to see all the special effects they're gonna use! I hope they make some things go _**BOOM!**_ _**BOOM!**_ HAHAHA!" Izzy cackled, making some of the people around them look nervous.

Glancing to the other side of the runway, Bridgette noticed Travis and Milah taking their seats with Talia close behind and she waved to them.

She also spotted a few other familiar faces in the crowd- Marissa and Paul, Aideen and William and even Alyssa, who was dressed in a pink, form-fitting flowing-sleeved salwar kameez with black trim and black stilettos.

Some of the officials of StellaVita sat directly in front of the stage- Savion among them, Zilla on his arm, Payne, Drake and Xavier close behind.

"Hello Keepers."

They looked behind them to see Rika smiling, wearing a black Greek-style dress with gold trim, gold low-heeled shoes and her hair straight, held back by a gold bow.

"Rika! What are you doing here? I didn't know you were into this sort of thing!" Bridgette exclaimed.

"I'm not really. Just came to support a friend!" Rika said, shrugging.

Just then, the lights around the stage dimmed and the room went silent.

"It's starting!" Lindsay squealed in excitement as the lights came back on and in puffs of silvery smoke, each model appeared, dressed in a white outfit until there were forty of them arranged in four rows of ten one behind the other with a break in the middle.

People began to cheer and clap as they performed a dance. Once that was over, they walked down the catwalk from the back rows to the front, each girl lining the break doing so together.

Kimberly, wearing a flowing-sleeved mini-dress with a sash around the waist, her hair rolled up into a bun with a white bow came down the catwalk accompanied by a platinum blonde, violet-eyed girl that was even taller than she was wearing a corset-style puffy-sleeved blouse and white pants that flared at the ankles, both wearing the same white eye-shadow and lipstick.

Kimberly saw her parents and beamed at them before she and the other girl turned back towards the stage.

* * *

><p>"That was some show, Kim!" Rika smiled at her friend.<p>

"Thanks." Kimberly said.

The models and guests mingled at the after-show cocktail party, having a good time.

Lindsay was firing question after question at Kimberly about the fashion show, how it was organized, what it was like being a model and of course, where she could get some of the outfits.

"Slow down, Lindsay! I can barely understand you!" Kimberly laughed.

Meanwhile, Izzy and Alyssa were seated at a table with drinks- Alyssa with a martini and Izzy with apple juice (Alyssa had to stop her from taking the alcohol).

"So, you see what a show my home world can put on now. What do you think?"

"I thought it was great- and I'm not even into this sort of thing normally!" Izzy exclaimed.

Alyssa chuckled. "Wisperan shows are like that. We are, after all, the best at what we do." She leaned back into her chair.

"How is Ethan?" Bridgette asked Travis.

Travis smiled for a moment before answering.

"He's fine, the little guy. Only four months old and he's grown so big already!" he chuckled.

"Noisy baby he is too. Even more than his sisters were…" Milah joined him, rolling her eyes.

Talia, who was just behind them, deadpanned at this.

Heather and Gwen walked around the room together in silence.

"_So…_ Are you ready to deal with school next week?" Heather asked.

"No, not really…" Gwen answered

"_None of us are really. And to think that months ago, we hated each other's guts. Now we can actually hold a civil conversation."`_

"_Never thought I'd see the day…" Gwen thought back._

"_Who would?" _Heather walked away but was soon cut off by Zilla and Savion.

"Good evening Miss Aoki." Savion smiled.

"Hello… Should I know you?" Heather raised an eyebrow.

"How rude of me. My name is Savion Amax and this is Zilla Jainukul. I work for StellaVita. I designed the special effects which you saw here tonight." He beamed.

"And a damn good job he did if I do say so myself." Zilla smiled.

"I agree. How did you do it?" Heather wondered aloud.

"The magic of technology." Savion snapped his fingers and a cell phone appeared in his hand.

"Do you mind if I call a few friends of mine who are here? I'm sure they would love to meet you." He asked.

"No need Sav. They're right over there…" Zilla nodded towards Xavier, Drake and Payne.

"What's going on you girls?" Izzy practically bounced over, followed by Bridgette and Lindsay.

"Hey! This is Savion and Zilla and their friends...?" Gwen trailed off.

"My name is Xavier Winsdor. I am the CEO of the Royal Bank of Nadir." He smiled.

"I'm Drake Vafer. I am a Power Training Supervisor at Erendor's Education Department. Shapeshifting isn't as easy as it seems, after all and the children do need a lot of help with it." He said.

"I can imagine…" Bridgette nodded.

"And the big guy?" Heather inclined her head towards him.

"Payne Fortis. Former athlete turned sports coach for a professional team." He said.

"And now that the matter of introductions has been taken care of…" Zilla clasped her hands together, fluttering the sleeves of her pale yellow chakri. "How are things on Earth for you?" She asked.

The Keepers all frowned.

"Oh. Not too good, huh?" Zilla nodded knowingly.

"Zilla here has the most knowledge of Earth of us all." Xavier said, flashing a charming smile- which most of the Keepers had to prevent themselves from swooning at.

"Why is that?" Gwen asked, unaffected by his smile.

"I have Thai ancestry, Gwen. My family on both sides fled to Spectra in 1941 after Japan invaded Thailand during World War 2." Zilla shrugged. "They've been there ever since. But you can look up all that history when you return home..."

"Back on topic… Is it really that bad to you? After all you have done for them?" Drake raised an eyebrow.

"Seeing as they think that it is us that brought the trouble to them in the first place, we'd have to say yes, it is pretty bad..." Izzy frowned.

"Ah. But we have people on our side that feel the reverse on all of that." Xavier said as he led them mover to some seats.

"What do you mean?" Bridgette raised an eyebrow.

"_Well…" _Zilla paused, a slight mischievous tone to her voice. "There are those who believe that the non-magicals don't deserve your help and protection whether from magical or non-magical threats."

"_Figures."_ Heather muttered darkly.

"They tend to have a… _dangerous _belief that magical beings are a higher class of beings than the lowly ones without magic…" Savion said.

"Muddying the waters…" Drake nodded.

"Is it really bad here?" Lindsay asked, looking as if she hoped it wasn't true.

"Indeed it is, Lindsay. I am a journalist myself with the Caillin Tribune so I _always_ have my inside sources and connections and I can tell you that some of the people _in this very room_ hold such views. But my lips are sealed. _For now…_" Zilla made a zipping motion across her lips.

"That certainly was an… _enlightening_ discussion." Gwen said.

"Do not let it get you down." Xavier smiled an encouraging smile at them and they brightened up.

"Shouldn't you lovely ladies be enjoying the party?" Savion gestured to the other guests, having a good time. Rika and Kimberly were dancing together, Talia and her parents were seated at a table eating and everyone else was mingling.

"You're right. Let's go ladies…" Gwen said, walking off.

As they did, Bridgette looked back at them, she noticed a grey aura surrounding them.

"_There's something odd about these people, I can tell. They're certainly not… evil per se but I can't help but feel weary…" _Bridgette tuned away from them and frowned.

* * *

><p>"<em>There's something off about that group…"<em> Bridgette thought as the Keepers settled at their own table.

"_Really? I thought they were pretty nice!"_ Lindsay exclaimed in thought.

"_What makes you say that?"_ Izzy butted in.

"_Their auras are all grey… Like they're not fully on the side of good- like they're leaning towards the side we do not want to be involved with…"_

"_Relax Bridgette. What does one expect with a bunch of businesspeople? They're naturally cut throat-like I can be!"_ Heather commented.

"_Like you can be indeed Heather…"_ Gwen remarked dryly. _"But seriously. It's high society- the way the world works in general. A lot of people we meet may probably be like that. The world isn't divided into black and white morality in case you haven't realised…"_ She pointed out.

"_You're right."_ Bridgette relented. _"Let's just go enjoy the party before we have to think about what senior year is going to be like for us when we restart school."_

"_Not a pleasant thought there at all…" _Izzy shuddered.

* * *

><p>Once they were alone at their table, Xavier and his group began talking.<p>

"Judging by their reactions, I would say that they are rather conflicted about the situation themselves." Savion mused.

"Right, right. Is there a way we can convince them that our way is right though?" Xavier asked.

"I'm not sure of that." Savion twirled his glass of wine idly.

"And why is that?" Drake asked.

"They do not seem like the type that would ever subscribe to our way of thinking." He answered simply.

"Earth has its own set of… _'prejudices'._ They divide the non-magicals in several rather stupid ways and they will apply the same ideology behind their abhorrence of those to this situation." Zilla added.

"Surely they can be made to see reason?" Payne asked.

"In time they will see what is best and follow the appropriate action. We just have to wait until they see for themselves how bad it will be for all of us if the non-magicals are allowed to continue like this." Xavier said confidently.

"You'd better hope so…" Zilla said dryly fiddling with the plate of finger food in front of her.


	6. Back to School

_**Hey guys! It really has been a while, hasn't it? Don't worry. I haven't forgotten you all at all! My muse was failing me in the Total Drama fandom, so I decided to take a break from it and try out other fandoms- Winx Club and Harry Potter mostly. But I've got my TD Muse back for now, so enjoy it while it lasts!**_

_**Plus today, March 13, 2013 is the Underground Fanfictioners' 1st birthday! I dedicate this to all the members there!**_

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><p>"<em>It's Back To School day here in Canada and in every province, kids are packing up and heading out, ready to begin a new year of learning after a most interesting summer Caroline!" The male news reporter, a man with neat blonde hair, blue eyes and donning a dark suit said. <em>

"_That's right! After one interesting summer indeed Jamie!" A woman with cropped black hair wearing a red suit said, sitting at the news desk beside him._

"_We all know over the summer that magic was indeed confirmed to be real. There's a real Her shocker! I wonder what it will be like for the Total Drama Keepers in their classrooms today in their five different provinces. They will also be starting their final year of high school!"_

* * *

><p>School sucks.<p>

It always had.

She didn't get how she had the crazy idea that it would get any better.

But then again, it's Izzy we're talking about. She gets the craziest ideas in all of Canada- and perhaps the entire Earth…

The school day had started off like a normal one for her. At home, conspiracy theories abounded about how the Trix cereal she ate was made from the witches of the same name in Winx Club, trying to feed her cat some of her bacon and eggs, her morning exercise on the roof…

Yep, normal for Izzy alright…

"Do I really have to go…?" She moaned to her parents as she… _examined_ a piece of the unfortunate cereal.

"_Yes."_ Her parents said in unison.

Izzy resigned herself to it and less than an hour later, she was in the halls of her not-so-beloved high school.

Along the way, the other students saw her and began chattering excitedly.

Cameras flashed, traffic slowed and Izzy walked along ignoring all of this as if it were an ordinary day for her.

"_Heeeeeeeeeeey everybodyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"_ She yelled as she entered her first class of the day- Chemistry.

Uh-oh…

The people in the class stared at her with varying expressions on their faces, but that was nothing new, even before she became a Keeper.

"Welcome back, class." A nerdy looking brown haired guy with a funny haircut (at least in Izzy's opinion!) stood at the front of the class.

"It's your senior year, so let me just say that the Chemistry that you will be working on this year will be harder than ever. If you can't handle it in these first few weeks, then don't bother applying to major in it if you're planning on going to university."

The class groaned.

"Now..." The teacher began to scribble some notes on the board and her pen sped across the page, trying to keep up. Damn, that guy could write fast…

"Now that that's out of the way, we're going to be trying an experiment…" The teacher moved around each desk and distributed the chemicals and equipment.

Izzy was actually paying careful attention to what she was doing for a change. Taking a dropper and transferring the chemical it contained carefully into a beaker of another chemical over a lit beaker, she breathed a sigh of relief as it didn't explode for a change. She had a horrible tendency to make something blow up at least once a month in Chemistry class. In fact, the only reason they allowed her to stay was because she had excellent grades in the subject.

Behind her, a classmate of hers was failing to pay attention to what he was doing. The flame was too high and he had put a little too much of one chemical into the other.

Just as Izzy had carefully turned off the beaker and set down her concoction, she sensed it.

Moving quickly, she ran around the desk and shoved her classmate to the floor, just as the beaker exploded and the desk caught fire.

"Don't panic everyone!" The teacher called out to no avail as he ran for the fire extinguisher.

"Oh, oh, oh! I got it, Mr Teacher!" Izzy called out.

She put her hands into the fire and it swirled around her arms as she absorbed it.

Once all the fire was gone, she noticed everyone staring at her with varying expressions.

"_What? _I sensed the heat building up behind me, so I knew what was going to happen! I control fire and heat in general so that's part of the package!" Izzy shrugged.

"Izzy actually saved my life!" The student she saved said, sounding almost worshipful in tone.

"Who says so? Suppose she caused the fire in the first place with those freaky powers of hers?" One guy called out.

"The hell man? Not cool. I noticed just a second before she saved me what I'd done! The fault's all mine! I put too much of something in that concoction and I had the burner up too high!"

With all this happening, the students hardly noticed when the teacher had left and returned with the principal.

"What's the ruckus in here?" the principal's voice rang through the classroom.

"It's Izzy's fault!" half the class exclaimed.

"What? No! I actually didn't cause this explosion for once! In fact, I just saved that guy from having a barbequed face!" Izzy exclaimed indignantly, gesturing to the guy in question.

"Come with me, Miss Andrews." Mr Principal's voice was stern.

"It's not my fault!" Izzy exclaimed.

"Sir, I know it's not her fault! It's all mine! She saved me from having a face like Zuko or worse!"

"We'll see about that. Come along, Miss Andrews. _Now._"

Izzy grumbled and cursed under her breath. An explosion that actually wasn't her fault and they still blamed her for it. When would she catch a break?

* * *

><p>"<em>Write the value of (11.2)<em>_2__ – (0.375 ÷ 3) exactly, to two significant figures __**and**__ in standard form. Seriously, what the hell is this?"_ Heather thought in frustration during her Mathematics class of the year.

Her teacher, Mrs Satori was writing similar complicated-looking formulae on the marker board, droning on in Heather's mind as she looked at what she had written.

"_I'd rather take on Radcliffe's zombies now than deal with this…" _She sighed.

The Earth Keeper was jolted suddenly out of her thoughts by her teacher's voice.

"MISS AOKI!"

"What?" Heather snapped.

"I was hoping you'd join us in the class here on Earth, or is your mind wondering off to those other planets I hear you've visited?"

"_No,_ it wasn't wondering off to those planets, Mrs Satori. It was wondering how to solve the last equation you gave us. I didn't get super math skills in the whole Keeper package, you see."

The class snickered.

Mrs Satori frowned. "_Well played_. But just because you're a "Keeper" don't think that you'll be having it any easier in class now, you hear me?"

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

"_Good."_

After that class was done, it was time for lunch. As she went, she noticed the stares and glares she was getting.

"What? Don't you people have anything better to do?" She snapped at them.

They all looked away, frightened.

"I thought so." Heather smiled smugly to herself.

* * *

><p>"Looks like being a Keeper didn't really make you any smarter, did it?" One guy laughed as they were in Lindsay's Biology class.<p>

"What do you expect? She's a total airhead! Her Element suits her!" His friend laughed, giving him a high five.

The teacher, a tall and imposing male glared at the class, shutting them all up instantly.

"Enough of that. We are not here to discuss magic. We are here to learn Biology and quite frankly you two have no place to talk as you're not doing much better either." He said.

The two boys taunting Lindsay earlier turned red as the class now laughed at them.

"Moving along… Brain Development. The cells of the nervous system connect with one another in trillions of remarkably specific patterns that form and change over the course of an organism's life, _blah, blah, blah…_"

Lindsay's mind began to wander off and only came back to reality when the teacher called on her to answer a question.

"Neurotransmitter, sir!" She answered brightly.

Everyone stared at her in shock. She was well known to be a poor biology student, hell, poor student in general, yet she actually knew that such a large word existed, furthermore, what it meant?

Even the teacher looked surprised. "That is… _correct,_ Miss Mills…"

He turned back to the marker board, looking as if he were still in shock.

Lindsay smiled to herself. _"I guess Hasim's tutoring really is paying off…"_

* * *

><p>It was just after school finished at Bridgette's high school and most of the students there and some parentsguardians had gathered out by the outdoor swimming pool which was normally used for swim class and other aquatic sports.

Today, it was being used as a place for Bridgette to showcase her powers.

Her school had taken a much friendlier approach to her powers and were happy to allow her to do this.

"So… Um, hey everyone… I'm Bridgette Summers. Before certain events back in April and May, I was just another ordinary girl to most of you. The story starts a little bit before that, of how I became the Water Keeper."

She then summarised her adventures for the crowd, who had gone completely silent as they paid close attention.

"Now, enough of the boring stuff. This is what you all came here to see, so…"

She transformed and flew out above the pool.

The crowd gasped in awe.

Bridgette giggled. "And that's the simple part, really! The first bit of major magic I learnt how to do!"

She proceeded to form a water whip and twirled it around herself, and even lashing it out at the audience, retracting it just before it could reach them.

"No worries. I have full control!"

After about half an hour, she concluded her presentation and de-transformed as she bowed before the crowd, which was cheering loudly.

The school principal walked over to her, smiling. "Well there you have it folks! Our own Keeper!"

They cheered even louder as she disappeared into the locker room to take a break before going home.

"That was pretty cool, Bridgette!" Some other girls walked in.

"Hey, Bridgette! Can I interview you for the school paper sometime? I got all the pictures I needed from your display just now, but I wanna actually talk to _you…_" A girl with messy brown hair with glasses perched atop her head and carrying a notebook asked.

"Sure, Katherine. I'd be happy to. We have a mutual free period on Wednesday, right? Why not then?"

"Sure." Katherine beamed. "I'd love to get your take on the rumours going on about you and the other Keepers…"

Bridgette paused, the bottle of green Gatorade in her hand halfway to her lips.

"What rumours are we talking about here exactly?" She asked coolly.

Katherine, having sensed the change in Bridgette's tone, spoke carefully.

"Well, there are the usual low-flyers calling you a… freak among other things, but I've heard the most outlandish things as well, from you being a member of the Illuminati, to, well… A whole bunch of other things…" She scratched the back of her head nervously.

Bridgette twitched.

"But don't worry! I don't think so and my writing will be fair and contain _only _what you say- no snide insinuations! I want to be a great journalist one day you know!" Katherine said eagerly.

"I think you will be." Bridgette smiled. "Now, let's get back to the interview, shall we?"

* * *

><p>"Gwen dear! Are your ready for the first day of your last year of high school?" The Energy Keeper's mother called out in that overly cheerful tone of voice that she hated.<p>

"**No." **Gwen said firmly as she began packing.

"Why not? It's gonna be so cool!" Matthew exclaimed excitedly. "My older sister Gwen: one of the most powerful people in the history of forever! School will never be the same!"

"Exactly. School will be _even worse._ People are going to either love me or hate me- even more so than usual precisely because of that." Gwen pointed out.

"Well no matter what, I'll always be on your side Gwen. I don't care what anyone says about me or you." He said determinedly.

"Thanks. I guess you're not as bad as a little brother after all and considering that you're now starting high school and all…" She ruffled his hair, smiling.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" Matthew raised an eyebrow.

"Never you mind, Matt. Let's go, shall we? I haven't driven Skullcrusher in ages!" Gwen fished a pair of car keys from her pocket.

"That's because you _fly _everywhere now…" Matt pointed out.

"Do you want a ride or not?" Gwen narrowed her eyes.

It turned out that _"Skullcrusher" _was an old black pickup truck with skulls and spider webs painted in the corners of the doors and a silver star on the back of both external rear-view mirrors.

"I see you added some stuff." Matt nodded in approval.

"Of course. I have to make it even more threatening looking to the paparazzi."

"If they tried taking pictures of this thing, their cameras would break."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Gwen patted the hood fondly before getting in.

As they pulled into the parking lot of the high school, people stared not only at the unusual design of Gwen's truck, but the driver as well.

Before she became a Keeper, she had been pretty much invisible to anyone except her few friends and the teachers, but she could immediately see that all of this would change from the moment she pulled into the parking lot.

Cutting the engine, she took a deep breath. "Well, Matt. This is it. You ready, little bro?" She turned to him.

He nodded firmly. "I'm ready sis. Let's do this!"

And so they did.

"Gwen! Hey Gwen! Look over here!" A reporter waved holding his video camera.

They were immediately confronted by members of the media.

"No, no Miss Callahan! Look over here!" A second one hoisted up his picture camera.

"Don't pay any mind to them! I want your picture!" Another photographer clicked his camera.

Gwen ignored them all as she and her brother casually strolled inside the doors of their school and security prevented the reporters from following.

Once inside, the chattering students in the hall fell silent and the only sounds were Gwen and her brother's footsteps going down the hall.

Along the way, the other students saw her and began chattering excitedly again.

Cameras flashed, traffic slowed and the Callahan siblings walked along ignoring all of this as if it were an ordinary day for them.

"Care for the grand tour, bro?" Gwen asked.

"If you don't mind. And would you mind doing something about all those flashes going off around us? Apparently they want to blind us now…" Matthew muttered darkly.

"Gladly." Gwen paused and those around her paused as well, waiting to see what she would do.

She clapped her hands and all the cell phones and cameras were immediately drained of their power.

"HEY!"

The students all started to voice their objections and but went silent again as the principal of the school made her appearance.

"Miss and Mr Callahan, come into my office. I have a few things I wish to discuss with you…"

The students around them _"ohh-ed" _as if they thought the siblings would be getting into trouble.

"Don't worry. You're not in trouble at all." She said reassuringly as she shut the door behind them once they reached her office.

"Now, I just have a few things I'd like to make both of you aware of. You see, ever since magic was revealed here, people have been divided on the issue. Including…" the principal sighed. "…including some parents in the PTA. Now, now, now, don't start to fret." She held up her hands to stifle their protests.

"I will not be kicking either of you out of school for things which you cannot handle. I am however asking both of you to be careful with what you say and do. Miss Callahan, Please do not take this the wrong way, but I do not want you using your powers on school premises unless it is absolutely necessary."

Gwen nodded. "I understand."

"Great. Mr Callahan, I don't want you showing off either. Any magical technology Gwen might have brought for you- leave it at home. You do _not_ want to attract any unnecessary attention either."

Matthew could only nod.

"Good. Now that we've got that settled, you can go off and get your school year started. If you have any problems, feel free to let me know, okay?" She smiled at them as they got up to leave.


	7. Calm Before the Storm

Short chapter, but the next few will more than make up for it. Also, check out my new story, _Bridgette's Mermaid Tale!_

* * *

><p>In the Erendorian city of Xenia, Prince Ramon was leaving the Xenia City Hospital after another gruelling day of Magical Physiotherapy.<p>

Ever since that day several months ago when Radcliffe had did a rather crude version of a magical amputation on his perfectly healthy- at the time- legs, he had been in and out of the hospital after the original two week stay, trying to get the use of his legs back.

As it was Magical Medicine and not Non-Magical/Mundane, the process was considerably faster than on Earth.

Which Bridgette commented on when he emerged from the doors accompanied by Kimberly, his doctor, his therapist and a few guards.

"Welcome back to the world of the able bodied!" Bridgette smiled form where she stood with the other Keepers.

"Thanks, Bridgette. Only I'm not quite there yet. I'm still a bit unstable on the feet…" Ramon wobbled slightly, but Kimberly caught him.

"Easy there, big guy. You may only have about a month or so more of therapy to do, but you're still not fully recovered…" Kimberly chided him.

"Are you two dating now?" Lindsay asked curiously, looking between the pair.

"Ye-" Ramon started.

"NO." Kimberly cut him off.

Even the doctor, therapist and guards laughed at that.

"Not exactly anyway. It's more in the friendship stage now. We talked a bit and well, I decided to give him a chance. Nothing overly romantic going on yet though…" Kimberly answered.

"Oh. Okay then…" Lindsay was satisfied.

"Let's go, shall we?" Ramon gestured to the flying limo waiting for them.

As they sat and buckled in, they began to chat.

"So what has Earth been like for you since the whole Radcliffe thing?" Ramon asked as reclined in his seat.

"It's been so-so. A mixed bag of reactions." Gwen answered.

"_And a whole lot of detentions…"_ Izzy grumbled.

"There, there, Izzy. Don't let it get to you…" Bridgette tried using her Empathy to calm her down, but Izzy was in a foul enough mood for it to not work very well.

"What do you mean _"not let it get to her?"_ If I'd been given detention for something I didn't do, I'd be majorly pissed too…" Heather said.

"What's this about detentions you didn't earn?" Kimberly raised an eyebrow.

"Chemistry class. Some guy messed up his work. Saved him from explosion. Got blamed for explosion." Izzy gave a rather succinct version of events.

"Dude, that's just wrong…" Ramon shook his head.

"I know. And the school is rather divided over it. Some think I did it, some don't. It doesn't even matter to those who think that I did it that the same kid who was about to have his face roasted defended me!" Izzy exclaimed.

Kimberly took a sip from her orange juice box and fed the rest to Ramon.

"Aww, you look so cute when you do that!" Lindsay exclaimed.

"I think she looks way more than cute…" Ramon waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"_Thank you for changing the conversation!"_ Izzy thought.

"_No problem!"_ Lindsay replied.

"I don't need Ramon's opinion to look cute. I always do." Kimberly smirked.

"I agree with that assessment." Ramon commented.

"And Ramon is quite the looker himself, I must admit…" Kimberly grinned.

"Your Highness, Miss Bryan, Keepers, we shall be arriving at our destination in ten minutes." The driver's voice came over the intercom.

"Thanks for the heads up, driver." Ramon replied.

"You're going to love my new place. Before, I just lived in one wing of my brother's palace, but now, I've finally got a place to myself. Perhaps Kimberly can come over and spend a few nights keeping me warm, eh?" He waggled his eyebrows at her and laughed when she began to turn red.

"If you're trying for a relationship with him, methinks you'd better be ready for even more suggestions like that!" Heather laughed.

* * *

><p>"Today was a much better day than the past few…" Gwen sighed as she sat Indian style on a large, floating energy disk in the common area of the Keeper Den.<p>

Heather snapped her fingers and a brown armchair appeared which she sunk into.

"Yeah, Prince Ramon is almost done with therapy and he and Kim are kinda-sorta together... I used my Empathy powers discreetly to feel around the relationship between them and the potential is definitely there for love, even if they don't truly recognise it yet..."

"Speaking of love, what's up with you two?" Izzy nodded to Heather and Gwen, sitting in an armchair made of fire which did not burn its surroundings.

"It's been a couple of months, but Trent and I are coming along okay. The relationship is not... fully healed or anything like that yet but doing better than I could have ever hoped. We're supposed to meet for another date next weekend..." Gwen answered.

Izzy turned to stare at Heather until she answered.

"I'm not dating anyone right now. I'm enjoying the single life and trying to survive senior year. I do keep in contact with DJ though. One of the few people from the show I can tolerate these days…" Heather muttered.

"He's nice. I can picture you two together…" Bridgette said thoughtfully.

"In the "her corrupting him" sort of way, right?" Gwen teased.

"Oooh! Corrupting people is fun! Can I join in too?" Izzy asked excitedly.

"You most certainly _cannot_ join me in corrupting him!" Heather exclaimed.

There was silence for a few moments.

"So… You ARE corrupting him?" Izzy asked.

Heather facepalmed. "_No._ I'm not corrupting _anyone,_ okay? We are just friends. Nothing more…" She glared at Bridgette, who was giggling madly.

"Enough about our love lives already! Don't we have more important things to talk about?" The Earth Keeper asked angrily.

They al continued to laugh more at her indignant expression before calming down.

"Not really. I mean, nothing's really happening, right?" Lindsay shrugged.

"It's been fairly calm recently. Aside from a few negative comments and small incidents here and there in our part of Earth, there's been no trouble…" Bridgette said.

"I wish we had some more action and adventure to deal with. The Total Drama series was a piece of crap, but at least there was some excitement..." Izzy said.

"Yes, like the excitement of being treated like crap ourselves, right?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.

"Would you actually prefer to have Radcliffe resurrected again or something? He was a pain in the ass enough to kill as it was. We were lucky his immortality waned, but what would have happened if it didn't?" Bridgette asked.

"More dead Keepers…" Heather grumbled, thinking about Deanna.

"Of course not!" Izzy exclaimed. "I'd never want him back, after what he did! I just wish there was more excitement in our lives, a new mission or something to do, that's all…"

"Be careful what you wish for Izzy. It might be something you don't like when you get it…" Gwen warned.

"Really? How bad could a new mission or villain to defeat be?" Izzy retorted.

* * *

><p>"Desiderata Valley, New Brunswick, Canada, Earth. Current residence of the Energy Keeper Vesta." Xavier said, glancing around the park he currently stood in, with Savion, Payne, Zilla and Drake standing behind him.<p>

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Xavier? I mean, sure I want the Magicals to live separately from Non-Magicals, but to go to these lengths?" Zilla asked worriedly. Savion nodded in agreement.

"Mere collateral damage, my dear Zilla. Collateral damage. It will all be worth it in the end…"

"I certainly don't think so…" Savion added.

"You might not see the benefits Savion, but this is one community where Magicals and Non Magicals lived side by side peacefully on this wretched planet even before the Magical Renaissance."

"And now that will all soon change…" An eerie grin spread across Xavier's face as he glanced down at the small, black device he held in his hand and pressed the button…


	8. The Storm Has Arrived

"_What happened here?"_ Gwen thought, horrified.

She and the other Keepers stood transformed, staring at the still smouldering remains of the town hall building in Desiderata Valley, remaining completely silent, even as those behind them did not.

"From what Vesta and I could pick up, it was most likely a bomb. Non-magical authorities will be here to confirm it shortly." Aideen answered grimly as she and Vesta approached them, the latter with a large bandage above her left eye.

"I was close to the building when it exploded. I tried putting up a shield but both my reaction times and power levels are not what they used to be in my youth..." Vesta offered as explanation, gesturing to her injury.

"Bomb... Who would want to do that?" Bridgette said.

"And why?" Lindsay asked.

"_You just HAD to wish for more excitement in your life, didn't you?"_ Heather directed her thought towards Izzy.

"_I would __**never**__ wish for this!"_ Izzy thought back.

"We are not certain it was actually a bomb, so we cannot say for certain that this was an act of terror. If it was, we don't know who would have such a motivation to do such a thing..." Akari walked up to them.

"Bridgette, Marissa's probably too busy to tell you this, but I'm sure she would appreciate your help over by the field hospital..." Akari thumbed its general direction and Bridgette flew off.

"The rescuers and RCMP want our help. Izzy, can you go help control the fire and smoke?" Aideen asked.

"On it!" Izzy flew off towards the fire trucks.

"Gwen, Lindsay, Heather, you can use your powers to help clear rubble." Vesta commanded.

"What can we do?"

Samuel, Ezekiel, Cody and Sierra walked up to them. Samuel was the one who spoke.

"Samuel! Good to see you." Vesta shook his hand.

"Ask around and see where they need people. I'm not fully certain..." She rubbed her head and groaned.

"Come on, Madame Keeper. My wife would never forgive me if I let you stress yourself out over this. Your successor and the others are the ones who beat Radcliffe and his goons. They can handle this..." Jack came and led her away.

"Well, we know what we should do. Let's go people!" Gwen commanded.

She, Heather and Lindsay flew above the wreckage and surveyed it for a moment.

Heather was the first to make a move, focusing on a particularly large slab of concrete.

Floating it with upmost concentration, she put it in an empty lot nearby that had been cordoned off.

Gwen wrapped several energy whips around another and did the same, while Lindsay used her telekinesis.

Once they had cleared a significant amount of the rubble on top, they flew closer to the still smouldering wreckage and hovered around the emergency services personnel still using tools to help clear it away and try to find anyone trapped inside.

"What now? Is there anyone inside?" Gwen asked.

"Yes! The mayor was having a meeting inside with several people- both Magical and Non-Magical about some organization they were planning to set up!" The leader of the rescuers said.

"We've managed to get some out before you even got here, but several others are still unaccounted for, including the Mayor himself and his wife!" His Deputy added.

"BLOODHOUNDS OUT NOW!" Somebody yelled out from behind them.

The handlers released the dogs onto the rubble and the dogs began to do their job.

One particularly large one with brown fur and wearing a toque was out in front.

"We'll see what we can do!" Gwen flew over the rubble and scanned it with a silver beam.

"_Different energy levels scattered around the rubble, some weaker than others, some with magical vibes, some without..." _She thought.

"_Meaning?"_ Heather flew next to her.

"_I think there are people still alive in there. I can feel their energy. Some are duller than others!"_

The largest bloodhound with the toque barked loudly, standing next to a spot Gwen had detected a presence in.

"Zeke's found one!" Samuel yelled.

Just then, another dog barked near another spot Gwen detected a presence.

"We've got another one!"

"_It looks like my theory is correct. Let's move!"_

Gwen detected another a presence and they flew towards it.

"_Right here. Remember, move the rubble gently. We don't want to injure them more than they already are."_

Heather flew lower and moved the stone slowly away piece by piece assisted by Lindsay's telekinesis.

"Another one?" Cody and a paramedic flew out on what looked like a flying motorcycle except without the wings, with a floating stretcher between them.

Gwen nodded as Heather and Lindsay uncovered what looked like a torso.

Motivated further, they uncovered the rest, to discover a very bloodied woman breathing heavily with her leg twisted at an odd angle and one of her collarbones jutting out slightly.

Lindsay looked like she wanted to turn green at the sight and the other two Keepers weren't far off.

"Let's go." Cody nodded to the paramedic and they performed a spell to move the injured woman gently onto the stretcher, with the paramedic performing additional spells to stabilise her.

With a solemn nod, Cody and the paramedic flew over to the waiting row of ambulances with her.

"_Well, it may only get worse from here so we'd better steel ourselves..."_ Gwen thought.

They nodded determinedly.

Another dog barked loudly so they flew over to where it was.

Lindsay listened closely and could hear crying below the rubble.

"I hear someone crying under there!" She exclaimed.

She cleared away the rubble before the other two could help and when she did, a tear came to her eye.

A wailing baby covered in so much dust that they couldn't see the colour of her skin with scratches all over was trapped under its mother, who had apparently braced herself to protect the child- and wasn't moving.

Gwen scanned the mother and when she did, she bowed her head for a few seconds.

The paramedics came over and moved the mother slightly so they could rescue the baby.

Another set came and moved the mother- but not to an ambulance. She was beyond their help now...

Gwen sighed and turned to Heather and Lindsay.

"We'd best continue to reduce the chances of that happening again..." She thumbed the direction of the baby and the mother, the latter of whom was on a stretcher and a white sheet being drawn over her.

* * *

><p>"That was absolutely horrible!" Lindsay wiped a tear away from her eye as she sat with her fellow Keepers under a tent, drinking some bottled water.<p>

"And to think it's not over yet. There must be still some more people still under there!" Bridgette exclaimed.

"And they don't want us to help anymore!" Heather exclaimed angrily.

"It's not that they don't want you to help. You've run yourselves down trying to help all you could. They thought you needed a break!" Sierra joined them, holding a bottle of Pepsi.

"What were you doing here anyway? Don't you have sort of royal stuff to do?" Izzy asked grumpily.

"Actually, not today. A Princess has got to take a break every once in a while. Went to Toronto to do some shopping and relax. I came over as soon as I heard what happened. Turned out not to be much of a break after all..." Sierra frowned, taking a sip of her drink.

The largest bloodhound they had seen earlier came trotting over to them and morphed into Ezekiel.

"I can't get the smell of smoke and blood out of my nose, eh..." He sputtered, running off to find some water.

"_Me either and the smoke is part of __**my**__ element..."_ Izzy muttered.

"Ladies..."

An RCMP officer, alongside Vesta approached them.

"You should come with us. We have learnt some new information you should know." The officer said.

The Keepers and Sierra looked at one another anxiously before following.

* * *

><p>"It was a bomb that caused the explosion." The officer said.<p>

"WHAT?" They, along with several others in the room exclaimed in unison.

"I found the device in the wreckage with Ezekiel's help. Here's a picture." Cody slipped a slim, grey device out of his pocket and touched it once.

A picture of what looked like a charred, twisted metal box appeared for a few moments and everyone present went silent.

Cody looked even more grim that before as he returned the device to his pocket.

"The RCMP has it now and is picking it apart. An initial scan has revealed that it is an ordinary bomb and not a magical one. No magic whatsoever was used to create it..."

"So a non-magical person created the bomb and put it there?" Gwen asked.

"_Looks _that way." Cody nodded.

"Who would do that and why? What would they hope to accomplish from such a terrible feat?" Sierra asked.

"That's what the police will find out- with our help if they want it." Vesta answered.

"Could it have been a hate crime?" Lindsay burst out suddenly and everyone turned to stare.

"What? We all know it's a possibility. You don't think that it could be? A prominent community where Magicals and Non-Magicals lived side by side peacefully even before magic was exposed? Maybe someone wants to change that!" Lindsay suggested.

"Oh dear. I do _not_ even want to consider the repercussions if that turns out to be the case..." Sierra rubbed her head, feeling a migraine coming on.

"Whether we know the motive or not, it was still an act of terror; an act of mass murder. Rest assured, we will investigate. _All of us,_ since we don't know which side caused it." An officer said.

"Which _side?_ So are we all on different sides now?" Vesta raised an eyebrow, turning to him.

"Well if Lindsay's theory is correct- _still can't believe she actually came up with a theory..._" Heather thought the last part.

"_Hey!"_ Lindsay thought indignantly.

"... then _someone_ thinks we're on different sides." Gwen finished Heather's statement.

"EXACTLY!" Lindsay cried out.

There was a beeping sound coming from Vesta and everyone turned to look at her as she retrieved her cell phone from a pants pocket.

Glancing at it for only a moment before she put it back, she spoke.

"News conference in an hour. They want _me_ to stand in for the mayor for this since he's currently in critical condition at the hospital..."

"So what's the plan then? Do they need us for anything else?" Gwen asked.

"Not necessarily to speak, but they would appreciate your presence along with the law enforcement..." Vesta read another incoming message.

"Okay then people. We need to go prepare. The media is already starting to convene..." One officer declared.

They all agreed, going about whatever jobs they were subsequently assigned.

* * *

><p>Gwen and her fellow Keepers stood in a line directly behind the chief of police for Desiderata Valley as he spoke while Vesta and the other three Old Keepers stood to a side.<p>

"At 10:32 AM today, Saturday 20th November, 2010, an explosion occurred in the city hall of Desiderata Valley during a meeting..."

"SIR! What was the meeting about?" A reporter called out.

"As we understand it, it was a meeting between Magicals and Non-Magicals from this town and a few surrounding areas to form an organization for Magical and Non-Magical relations here in Canada."

"SIR! Any word on the amount of causalities?" Another reporter called out.

"We have conducted our initial investigations and thanks to extra help we have received..." The police chief turned to the Keepers and some of the magical contingent.

"We can now confirm the amount of deaths at twenty three and injuries at thirty four- at this time since many of the injuries are critical." The police chief finished.

"SIR!" Another reporter, this time female, called out. "Do you have a reason _why_ the town hall exploded yet?"

"Yes, we do. Investigations have uncovered the reason for the explosion. A bomb was placed inside the building, set to go off at a predetermined time."

The reporters murmured amongst themselves even more.

"SIR! What kind of bomb was it?" Another male reporter asked.

"We cannot say for certain at this time..." The police chief was cut off by another reporter.

"SIR! Any motives as to why someone would have wanted to blow up the town hall? Any suspects?" Another female reporter asked.

"To answer either of those questions right now would be mere speculation. I cannot give any answers for certain on that aspect at this time."

"I will now pass onto Mrs Vesta Rosier, who will speak in lieu of Mayor Shapiro who was injured in the blast."

Vesta stepped forward, looking grim, shuffled a few papers and began to speak.

"Today's explosion in our town hall here in Desiderata Valley was an act of _mass murder_. Our town will come together to support the victims and their families. Rest assured, we _will_ find out who did this and they will _not_ go unpunished!" She declared.

* * *

><p>"<em>Be careful what you wish for, huh...<em> If I knew that my wishes held so much power, I'd be more careful..." Izzy stretched out across the arms of her flame chair tiredly.

"Ah, bull. It's not like it was your wish that did it. It was some crazy, psychotic, cold-hearted, murderous lunatic!" Heather exclaimed.

"Heather is right..." Bridgette said tiredly.

"I'm going to have nightmares about this for ages..." Lindsay moaned.

"_Aren't we all?"_ Gwen thought.

"Either way, it looks like we have a new task on our hands. Move over Radcliffe..." Izzy sighed.

"Well, the only bright side I can see to this is that it didn't blow up the entire town. Or a school with elementary school kids inside..." Bridgette added.

"That isn't much of a bright side really. I mean, so many people died today. And that baby with her mom in the rubble... I will _never_ get that image out of my head as long as I live..." Heather's troubled expression never changed as she fiddled with her metal claws, retracting and protracting them again.

"I wonder what the rest of the world will think of this..." Lindsay said.

"This is another incident gone global that we became part of. You can bet that this is all people will be able to talk about at school, at work, wherever!" Izzy exclaimed.

"Yeah... Like Heather said, these are going to be images we'll never forget and this is after we witnessed a lot of terrible things fighting Radcliffe and his minions... Weaker people would need therapy..." Gwen said.

"Hell, strong people would need therapy after what we all saw today. I only hope they catch the bastard or bastards responsible for this so that we can _**roast them alive!**_" Izzy snarled.

They all made noises of agreement.

They all sat in silence for a few minutes longer before Gwen spoke again.

"Look, you four. I'd better get us all back home before our families think we all died in a second explosion or something. Plus I'm really tired after today and I don't want to sleep here tonight. Lindsay, you're nearest. You go first..." Gwen stood up, making a portal as she did.

* * *

><p>"<em>Rest assured, we <em>_**will**__ find out who did this and they will __**not **__go unpunished!"_

Xavier leaned back in his chair, flicking through the various channels and _laughing._

"We _will _find out... they will _not_ go unpunished... _HA!_ They will never figure out that it was me. How could they? Even if I had to go about it the... _Non-Magical_ way so they would not be able to trace it back to a Magical user such as myself..."

Payne and Drake joined him in his laughter, but Savion and Zilla did not, standing in a corner some distance away from the laughing men.

"_Ever get the impression that Xavier's gotten a few screws loose?"_ Savion whispered to Zilla.

"_A __**few? **__Try __**everything**__ up there being wired wrong..."_ Zilla whispered back.

"_I'm not certain that joining up with him was the right thing to do after all..."_ Savion whispered.

Zilla glanced over at the trio of men who were still laughing.

"_**I**__ am..."_ She whispered back.


	9. The Hearing

"The Inter-Planetary Council Special Meeting for March 22nd, 2011 shall now begin…"

The Chief Member called the meeting to order.

"Alejando Burromuerto has been imprisoned for almost a full year now. He has helped us greatly by giving us information on Radcliffe and what he had planned in ways only an insider could…"

"Exactly! He was an insider! How do we know whether he's only doing this to… pardon my language, Chief Member… to save his own ass?" One delegate asked.

"We have done extensive interviews with him and he agreed to take Truth Potion for many of them. His intent is sincere..." The Chief stated.

"There are ways to fool a Truth Potion as you are aware, Chief Member. Were proper precautions taken to prove that this was not the case?" Another delegate asked.

"They were. I do understand all of your concern Members, but the evidence is there. Alejandro Burromuerto is indeed a changed man. Plus he never did anything that actually directly harmed anyone, Keepers included, so that was also taken into consideration..."

The Hall of various delegates murmured at this.

"What about the other one that Radcliffe recruited? Courtney Martinez?" Someone asked.

"This meeting does not concern her, but I will answer your query. While she does not seem to be inclined towards a rage fuelled rampage of revenge against the Keepers or anyone else, it is still not felt that she is anywhere near potential for release at this time. Consider also that her crimes were actually much more serious than Mr Burrmuerto's and she will not be seeing the outside of her prison for quite some time. Now back to the topic of this Special Meeting: _Mr Burromuerto..._"

After about two hours of debates (which was rather quick for any kind of politician whether magical or not), it was time to make a ruling.

"Who is in favour of his _not_ being released at this time?" The Chief Member asked.

Quite a few hands were raised at this.

"And... who is in favour of his being released at this time?" The Chief Member asked.

Even more hands than before were raised.

"Very well then. It has been ruled. Alejandro Burromuerto shall be released from his prison as soon as can be allowed."

* * *

><p>Magical prisons were really just more well, magical than ordinary ones, but they were still places to be avoided at all costs.<p>

Large guards with larger weapons patrolled the corridors of the high security level on which Alejandro Burromuerto was being kept in his anti-magic cell with an anti-magic bracelet on his wrist for good measure.

He had recovered a good deal from the incident at the volcano almost a year ago that revealed the existence of magic to Earth at least physically. Scars were still present on his body even with magical healing and he walked with a slight limp now.

The mental scars however, were still there.

His father was never the most pleasant of men even before he had signed onto Radcliffe's side of things and dragged him along for the ride, but he didn't blame him. Oh no. He didn't blame his father for his fate. He blamed himself for ever going along with it in the first place.

He could have said no. He could have gone to one of the magical planets to seek protection from him and Radcliffe- if he had gotten away from them without them finding out about his betrayal since Radcliffe had no mercy for those he deemed traitors to his cause...

And Heather. He really did think he loved her at one point. Love. Bah. What was love really? It was probably only a mild attraction to her. Her..._ bold_ personality, the way she played the game, the way those shorts made her long legs look...

No, no, no. Even if she too had had an attraction to him, it could have never worked. Not with him working for who he was at the time and her responsibility/position in magical society. He was working for Radcliffe, the grave enemy of all Keepers and she was the current Earth Keeper. It could never have happened.

But _still,_ he kept wondering what _could_ have happened if things weren't the way they were...

He was shook out of his thoughts by the heavy footsteps of a guard.

"Alejandro Burromuerto?" The guard asked in a raspy voice.

"Yes? That would be me..." Alejandro stoop up, wondering what they wanted with him this time. Probably just another interrogation...

"The Inter-Planetary Council held a Special Meeting this morning to discuss you. They came to the decision that you would be free to go as quickly as possible and that time has come. Get up. You're leaving this joint.

Alejandro's eyes widened. "Really?" He refused to get his hopes up.

"Yeah, really. Read this if you don't believe me." He tossed an envelope to him which he quickly grabbed and opened.

He read through the official letter, noting the seal and the signatures at the bottom...

This official letter said he was free.

Free to finally leave this hellhole...

He jumped up and followed the guard into a room where he found his mother and brother waiting for him.

"Mi hijo! Alejandro! I never gave up on you, you know." Marisela smiled broadly as she hugged him so tightly he could barely breathe.

"Mama, I am very glad to see you again but... I... cannot... breathe..." Alejandro began to turn blue.

"Oh, oh! I'm sorry about that. I'm just so glad to see my youngest son free at last!" She beamed.

"Hey little bro. Surely you haven't forgotten me, have you?" Carlos stood in the background smiling.

"Carlos! Brother! How are you?" The pair shared a rather manly hug.

"I should be asking how _you_ are doing, but I'm fine. Life is still good for me. I'm still doing well on my soccer team and Tiana and I are still going strong." Carlos smiled.

"Good. I am glad to hear that my actions did not affect your lives that badly..." Alejandro smiled weakly.

"Never mind that. Here, bro." Carlos waved his hands and some casual clothes appeared in them. "Take these and go change. I doubt you want to be seen in public for the first time in months in prison guard..."

"You're right, bro. I will." Alejandro laughed for the first time in a long while as he headed to the bathroom to change.

* * *

><p>"Hey Heather! Did you hear? Your jailbird boyfriend got released from the cage!" Someone called out to Heather as she walked down the hallway of her school in the morning before classes had begun.<p>

"I don't have a boyfriend in jail and I never have, you dumbass!" Heather called out, making the students in the hallway snicker.

"Oh really? Maybe you should check TMZ or something on your phone!" They called back.

Raising an eyebrow, Heather reached into her handbag for her phone.

Bringing up her phone's browser, she clicked on the first reliable looking news site she found.

Her eyes widened in shock.

"Nope. No way in hell. NO!" She exclaimed.

"See?" The person said.

"He isn't my boyfriend, never was and never will be!" Heather exclaimed in frustration. "And they never should have released him so early!" She seethed.

_"Gwen, did you see this?"_ She thought as she walked down the hall to the cafeteria to grab something for breakfast.

_"See what?"_ Gwen asked.

_"This!"_ Heather thought of the story she had seen of Alejandro being released as she angrily slammed open the doors of the school's cafeteria which was much more fancy looking than that of an ordinary school's- which was expected as her parents had paid for the best school possible for their children...

_"What, really?"_ There was a silence between them as she checked out the story on her own phone.

_"That's crazy!" _Gwen exclaimed.

_"You're telling me. I saw it when I was checking my email before heading out to school!" _Izzy cut into the conversation.

_"Oh, I know. How could they possibly think that was the right thing to do? After the crap he pulled?" _Heather slammed down various breakfast items on her tray angrily as the other people waiting in the buffet line for their breakfast stood some distance behind her as if they expected her to explode at any moment.

Which was probably likely.

She stalked off to a table in the corner of the room and sat by herself.

_"Did you girls hear?"_ Bridgette cut into the conversation.

_"We heard. We all heard. Alejandro is walking free. We all heard. And I don't like it."_ Gwen said.

_"Neither do I. He's really creepy. And how did he fool them into thinking that he was reformed?"_ Lindsay wondered, joining the mental conversation as well.

Heather stabbed her sausages with her fork. _"I want answers. How about we meet tomorrow at the Den and head to Saurian for some answers? Gwen, what do you think about this?"_

Gwen paused for a moment. _"I agree with you there, Heather. Keepers, we're spending our Saturday getting some answers about this meeting..."_

* * *

><p>"Seriously! I can't believe they actually decided to let him off early, the creep!" Bridgette exclaimed as they sat inside the common area of the Keeper Den.<p>

"You and me both, Bridgette. As soon as I got home I let off some steam by practicing my metal dart throwing skills at a large poster of him in the backyard..." Heather glanced at her nails, flicking them to metal and back.

"Yeah, but that's not going to get us anywhere, even though it's fun. I still do that with a poster of Duncan every once in a while..." Gwen smiled briefly, but shook it off.

"Are we going or not?" Izzy asked impatiently.

"Yep, we're going Izzy. Keep your hair on..." Gwen created a portal and they all stepped through.

When they emerged, they found themselves outside the Presidential HQ as they liked to call it, in Saurian, Alma.

"Ah, Keepers. I expected to see you here today..." Nasira appeared next to them suddenly.

_"I still hate it when she does that!"_ Lindsay thought.

"Yes. We want answers on why Alejandro got off so early and we figured that this was the best place to get them." Gwen said.

"It is indeed. Come. People who can help you find the answers you seek are inside." Nasira beckoned for them to follow her through the gates. greeting the security there briefly.

* * *

><p>"So... Why? Why was he let go so early?" Heather folded her arms across her chest as she and the other Keepers sat in a meeting room.<p>

"They had good reason to let him go, apparently. He behaved himself in prison and compared to... _certain other people,_ he never caused any true harm. They took that into conversation. They would not have made a decision like this lightly. Plus he _is _being monitored. If he does anything out of line, he'll be back to prison as soon as they could catch him." President Tavares answered. "I don't like it as much as you do, but I have to respect their decision."

"I don't like it either." Vice President Quentyne spoke up. "He agreed to join Radcliffe knowing what he was all about up of his own free will in the first place. Why should someone who worked with that bastard (pardon my language) be allowed to go free at all?"

"Ah, so I shouldn't have gone free at all then?" Alana sat in a corner of the room, raising an eyebrow.

"You're different. You weren't really working for him. You were working to bring him down and that was proven to us all. Plus you saved Prince Ramon's life when he tried to kill him!" Quentyne said.

"In case you're forgetting, he tried to kill us both. I wasn't about to let that happen. Anyway, I actually interacted with Alejandro within Radcliffe's lair itself and that being said, I can see why they'd want to let him off early." Alana commented.

"Oh? How so?" Heather turned her attention to her.

"Alejandro always seemed so... reluctant when it came to the tasks he had to do. Especially when it came to trying to manipulate you all. When it came nearer and nearer to the end of Total Drama World Tour, you could see that he was losing his touch. He just wasn't trying as hard anymore. Plus when it came to the end of the episode that you spent in Drumheller, Radcliffe saw what he perceived as a miserable failure on Alejandro's part and completely rinsed his hands of him..." Alana answered.

Heather's face went blank.

"I don't particularly like his being released so early myself but there is evidence to prove that he won't intentionally stir up any trouble if he was released early so we all just have to let it go." Nasira said.

Hasim entered the room at the point and took in the various expressions. "Talking about Alejandro's early release, aren't you?"

"How could you tell?" Gwen asked wryly.

"I have my ways. Anyway, I brought copies of the transcription of the hearing that resulted in his early release. Here. One for each of you Keepers, as well as for Alma's government records..." He waved his staff and one copy appeared in front of each Keeper as well as a few more copies appearing in front of Tavares and Quentyne.

"Just go home now and relax. Do something fun. But don't worry about him. After he was released, his mother and oldest brother Carlos came for him and took him straight back to Spain. I doubt he'll be going back to Canada any time soon..." Hasim smiled reassuringly at them.

"Yeah, right..." Bridgette glanced down at her copy of the transcription.

_"This isn't the last we'll hear of him, I'm sure..."_ Heather thought as she looked down at her own copy of the transcription.


	10. Trouble in Washington

"April 24, 2011. Exactly one year after magic was revealed to the Earth as being real on the most eventful episode in the Total Drama series. A lot of TV show producers would kill for the ratings that something like that would bring to their show, huh?" Bridgette chuckled slightly as she addressed the audience in front of her, who also chuckled at that remark.

She and the other Keepers had been invited to Washington D.C. by the American President and she in particular had been invited to give a speech for the one-year anniversary of the Magical Reveal since she was the only American citizen of the group.

The other Keepers stood around her as she spoke.

"We discovered our role as Keepers shortly after the first Aftermath episode of Total Drama World Tour aired, but we noticed our powers and strange things happening around us even before that. Our training, which was aided throughout the season by our predecessors Vesta Rosier, Marissa Bryan, Aideen Robinson, the late Deanna Wilson..."

Bridgette glanced at Heather, whose expression did not change. "... and Akari Nanika, among others was certainly... _eventful..._" Bridgette said.

"We were certainly not as skilled with our powers then as we are now. For example, during my first training session, I tried to make a water balloon like how Marissa had shown me. Mine wasn't as big as hers had been for one, yet I somehow managed to freeze it without intending to and made it explode with enough force to send me careening straight into the nearby ocean..." She chuckled at the memory and so did the audience and her fellow Keepers.

"A lot has happened since then and we Keeper girls or as we've been dubbed by many, the _Total Drama Keepers_ or _TDK_ for short, aren't afraid of being in the front of the new Magical Revolution. I am American born and though I moved to Canada at a young age, I can never forget my American roots. I will do my best to help the Revolution in _both_ countries, as will my fellow Keepers in not only the United States of America and Canada, but in as many countries on Earth as possible."

Bridgette finished off her speech and went to sit alongside her fellow Keepers near the back of the platform as the American President went up to speak.

_"Nice speech, Bridgette!"_ Lindsay thought.

_"Thanks. I really put a lot of thought into it. It took me ages to come up with all of it and not have it sound boring and full of empty platitudes..."_ Bridgette thought back.

_"You got that right. Sounded much better that a lot of speeches that I hear from these windbags these days. No offence, Lindsay." _Heather thought.

_"None taken!"_ Lindsay thought.

_"I just can't believe that it's been a year already since all of this happened..."_ Gwen thought.

_"I know, right? This... all of this... it's just been so crazy!" _Izzy thought.

_"So many things have happened, both good, both bad... I would have never thought that this would have happened to us of all people..."_ Lindsay thought.

_"AMEN to that!"_ Izzy thought.

Once the event was over, the Keepers walked together to their transportation to the White House, where they were supposed to spend some time before going back to their hotel and getting ready to head back to Canada the next day.

"Seriously. I can't believe that it's already been a year though. It seems like everything just happened yesterday..." Heather said as they stepped into their limo.

"I know! We were all having the worst time of our lives as Total Drama contestants and now, not only are we some powerful magical beings, but we'll be finishing High School soon too!" Lindsay exclaimed.

"High School was hell. I can't wait until it's over." Gwen grumbled.

"It would be for unpopular people like you. People like me and Lindsay on the other hand..." Heather smirked. "As for Bridgette and Izzy, they'd rank somewhere in between. Trust me, I'd know. I worked very hard to build up my empire and I still plan on going out as the Queen Bee!"

"Like that's going to mean anything after you graduate..." Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Of course not. Unlike most people in my cohort, I'm aware of that. I have plans to build myself up after I leave of course. I can't be an unsuccessful lawyer!" Heather exclaimed.

"A lawyer. Why am I not surprised that you would take that path as a career choice?" Gwen chortled.

"Well, I want to be a doctor so I have plans to go to University of Ottawa to study biology first. Maybe I'll see Kimberly around there since she's there doing Criminology herself..." Bridgette said.

"I'm totally going into fashion design and marketing. I applied to a few schools in New York for it and I got accepted into all of them! I still can't believe it!" Lindsay squealed in excitement. "But I haven't decided which one I want to go to yet..."

"Blah, blah, blah. I'm going to UCLA. I'll be studying Mathematics, but I'm hoping to get back into acting down there..."

"_You _got into UCLA?" Heather asked in shock. "To study _Mathematics?_"

"What? I'm not stupid!" Izzy exclaimed indignantly.

"She's right. She's not stupid. She's just crazy." Gwen nodded sagely.

"More than crazy. Her factory might be open, but it's making something else! And I thought high school math would be enough. I just barely managed to maintain a B average in that wretched subject!" Heather exclaimed.

"Okay girls, can we stop talking about school now and just enjoy the ride? I mean we'll all be back at school within the next 2 - 3 days anyway..." Bridgette said.

"You're right. Let's just relax and enjoy our stay here and..." Gwen was cut off when the ground shook violently.

"What the hell was that? It wasn't a natural earthquake!" Heather exclaimed.

They all screamed again when the ground shook so hard that the limo flipped right over.

"What's happening?" Lindsay screamed in fright as the ground shook again.

"Nothing good, that's for sure!" Izzy exclaimed. "Let's get out of here! I'm beginning to feel like a milkshake- and not the kind that brings the boys to the yard!" Izzy squirmed out of her seat as Gwen made a portal out of the car.

"Yep, definitely nothing good." Gwen said as she looked around, seeing several monsters roaming around Capitol Hill.

They all transformed.

"I'll get the driver out. You go ahead and help out however you can!" Gwen headed towards the driver's side.

* * *

><p>"How can we help?" Bridgette asked, flying up to a soldier that she knew was high in rank judging by his uniform.<p>

"Ah, Keeper Bridgette. Good to see you in person at last. I'm Colonel Jacob Warren Jr., the great-grandson of Keeper Marissa's predecessor Keeper Elizabeth." He shook her hand.

"Small world.." Bridgette said.

"I know. But enough of the pleasantries ladies. I'm sure you're eager to get into action. The monsters seem scattered primarily in the North West and South East areas, but the White House is in the centre of it all. It's officially on lockdown and the entire First Family is safe..."

_"Small mercies..." _Bridgette thought.

"Good. I can't imagine what would happen if the President had been killed by a magical creature. It would set back everything we're working on!" Heather exclaimed as she blasted back an approaching monster with several boulders.

"I get the feeling that is what someone wants! Otherwise why would they have picked today when we're here?" Bridgette froze another monster and shattered it into several pieces.

"Whether that's the case or not, we need to bring this under control. Now I've got to go rejoin my soldiers. I will hopefully see you around when the chaos is over!" Colonel Warren ran off to rejoin his soldiers.

"What's the scoop?" Gwen flew over to them, blasting a creature out of her way.

"Somebody set loose some monsters in the capital of the United States on the anniversary of magic being revealed to Earthlings while we're here! Obviously want to create a division between us and non-magicals!" Lindsay blew back three creatures.

"Let's get to work ladies! I don't want to be around here all day!" Gwen slashed at another monster with an energy sword.

* * *

><p>Xavier laughed as he watched the chaos break out on a television in his living room.<p>

"This... this is way too much fun!" He exclaimed.

"I think it's just way too much, _period._" Zilla said flatly.

"Don't you think that you're going overboard with this? Why not let just let them destroy themselves instead of you trying to destroying them? Sowing seeds of distrust, hatred and lies? Being _subtle?_" Savion asked.

"While that approach is also fun, this helps to speed up the process." Xavier explained slowly.

"But... Don't you think this is going overboard? You don't have to kill and hurt people yourself in order to create divisions among them..." Zilla said.

"Hey you two! Are you going soft? What's the problem? This stuff is fun!" Payne said.

"Yeah! Just sit back and enjoy the damn show already!" Drake exclaimed.

Zilla and Savion looked at one another and sat back down reluctantly.

* * *

><p>"All over the Internet, people are going crazy!" Gwen's brother said to her in a Skype conversation on her laptop once she was back in the hotel room she was sharing with Lindsay and Bridgette.<p>

"I can only imagine. It was chaos to get back here... Plus we had to meet with the President and a few other army people before we could come here. The amount of tiredness I feel right now I feel..." Gwen yawned. "...is comparable to after the final battle with Radcliffe or... _yawn... _when we had to deal with that explosion in Desiderata Valley..."

"Go to sleep, Gwen. You're going to need it. That much I can tell. Please. Go. We can talk tomorrow when you find the time..." Her brother said.

"Fine. Good night, Matt." Gwen yawned again.

"Technically you mean good _morning,_ but I'll accept that." He ended the call with a grin.

"Seriously, this is going to set us back a bit getting back to Canada, isn't it?" She asked the other two.

"Pretty sure it will. It's a miracle that being Keepers and all, that we didn't miss out too much on school..." Bridgette said.

"But of course we have lots of awesome people to help us out, like Hasim. He actually helped me to pass biology this year!" Lindsay exclaimed.

"A miracle in and of itself, that is..." Gwen yawned again.

"Let's just get to sleep, you two. Surely we could all just talk tomorrow?" Bridgette ducked under the sheets of her bed.

"Agreed. Like my brother said, I know I'm going to need it..." Gwen jumped into bed and snapped her fingers, plunging the room into darkness.


	11. Lines Drawn

**_Almost a year since I updated this. I should be ashamed of myself..._**

* * *

><p><em>"Why does this stuff keep happening?"<em> Heather thought as she handed her passport to passport control in Canada a week after... _the incident_ in Washington D.C.

_"You tell me. I knew re-introducing Earth to magic was never going to be easy, but to see it degenerate to this level..."_ Gwen thought back.

"Welcome back to Canada, Miss Aoki. Just a friendly tip though- the atmosphere outside is not the most friendly towards Magicals right now..." The Immigration officer said.

"I thought as much." Heather sighed. "Thank you for the heads-up, though..."

Heather collected her luggage and got through the rest of the airport with no problems, save for a few dirty looks.

"Welcome back, dear. How are you?" Her mother went forward to hug her as soon as she spotted her daughter.

"I honestly could be better. I really wish that all this crap wouldn't keep happening. People out there really want to maintain the divide between Magicals and Non-Magicals and are going to extreme lengths. The bombing in Desiderata Valley, the creatures in Washington D.C. going all _Godzilla_ on us..." Heather and her mother soon reached the car and remained mostly in silence until they got home.

"You... This is your fault!" Jillian pointed at her angrily as soon as Heather stepped in the door.

"What's my fault? That you look like a dripping wet rat?" Heather raised an eyebrow at her older sister's current state.

"Some people at my university hate magic now because of you and other people like you! They decided to dunk me into the fountain! If I hadn't managed to struggle free, I'm pretty sure they would have _drowned me!_"

"As much as we never got along before, I would have never wished this on you! How dare you blame me!" Heather screeched.

"What's going on here?" Mrs. Aoki demanded as she took in the scene in front of her.

"SHE STARTED IT!" Both Aoki sisters shouted, pointing at one another.

"I DID NO SUCH THING!"

"SHUT UP!" Mrs. Aoki yelled.

The two younger women went silent.

"Now, calmly and without yelling... what happened?"

"I was at school, minding my business. Someone recognised me as the _Earth Keeper's..._" Jillian sneered. "...older sister. They blame her and her fellow _Keepers..._" She glared at Heather. "... for all the trouble that's been happening lately. That incident in Desiderata Valley, this thing down in the United States, other... _suspicious incidents_ in between... Apparently it's all your fault and now I have to put up with people blaming _me _for _your_ bullshit!"

"Hey! I had nothing to do with those incidents and if those morons had any sense, they'd know that! I'm a Keeper. I am now sworn to _keep _the peace between Magicals and Non-Magicals! Why would I do something that would jeopardize that? What the hell would I have to gain?!"

"You know, I used to think that you having magic powers and being some magical peace-keeper would be cool. That my little sister had_ finally_ achieved something I could _respect._ I actually defended you against people that called you a freak; a troublemaker. But it's actually turned out to bring me nothing but trouble! They were right after all!"

"Okay. You two need to calm down. I don't care how old you are now, that you're in university or that you have magic powers. Go to your rooms and stay there until you've calmed down and can be reasonable. _Both_ of you. Now." Mrs. Aoki folded her hands across her chest and glared at her daughters.

_"Fine!"_ Both sisters glared at one another before heading off into separate directions.

* * *

><p>"Whoa. What happened to you?" Gwen asked as she met her brother outside the school.<p>

His expression was darker than even hers could be when she was pissed off and even though she wasn't an Empath like Bridgette or Alyssa, she could sense the anger roll off him in waves. _"Anyone could..."_ she thought.

"We had an interesting Politics class lass session. Very interesting... and I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, DAMMIT!" he snarled as he got into the passenger seat of Gwen's truck and slammed the door so loud that Gwen thought it would fall off.

"Calm down, Matt. What happened to you?" Gwen stayed calm.

"We were just talking about Canada's political history in preparation for a test we have next week- end of Freshman year tests and all that... and the topic got completely derailed to you and the other Keepers!" he snarled again, fighting to stay calm.

"And what did they say about us that has you so pissed off?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty nasty things. They compared the attack in Desiderata Valley to 9/11 down in the States..." he growled.

"There's no question that they were both acts of terror, but what else did they say that has you so pissed off? About me and the other Keepers?" Gwen pressed. "And didn't your teacher say anything about it?"

"Mr. Novak was absent today so we pretty much had to teach ourselves for that class. They started to bring up conspiracy theories for the two events and compared them... and like you know that one theory about 9/11 that the United States attacked itself for whatever reason?" he asked as she drove down the street, away from the school.

Gwen didn't like where this was going at all, but she still wanted to know. She _had_ asked, after all...

"They're saying that the Magicals attacked themselves to try and draw sympathy from more of the non-Magical population. That they only made it look like a bunch of extremist anti-Magical terrorists or something! That _you're _a terrorist yourself!"

Gwen suddenly braked- which was a good thing since there were no cars behind them.

"What?!"

"Exactly what I just said. The stupidity levels are rising, sis. Luckily, it was only a few weirdos that no one cares about who voiced that opinion, but hearing that people actually do believe that... You're not a terrorist! You can be scary sometimes, but blowing people up? At least the majority of the class called them out on their stupidity and began defending you and the other Keepers with your track record of good deeds, the fact that you don't rub in your magic powers to those who don't have them, the fact that you actually refuse to use your powers to make money... all of you, in fact. Well, at least, not here on Earth..."

"I feel the beginnings of headache..." Gwen moaned, rubbing her forehead.

"At least we have all weekend to hide away at home and recover, because I'm feeling one too, right?" Matthew said.

"Small comfort." Gwen muttered.

* * *

><p>"Aww! Aren't you cute? Yes, you are. Yes, you are!" Bridgette rubbed the belly of the new Golden Retriever puppy that her mother had given her for her birthday a few days prior.<p>

"I see you're getting along really well with her! Have you decided on a name for her yet?" her mother asked as she entered the backyard, having just returned from work.

"Yep! I'm calling her Leila. I think it's cute and it suits her!" Bridgette giggled as the puppy licked her in the face.

"Pretty name for a pretty puppy. Chosen by an even prettier girl. I can't believe you're eighteen already. It seems like just the other day you were a teeny little baby in my arms and now look at you! Granted, I never imagined the whole "my daughter having magic powers" thing, but I'm proud of you. And you'll be going to college in the fall too!" Bridgette's mother hugged her tightly.

"Yeah. Even magic couldn't change my plans to work towards my medical degree. I still want to be a paediatrician!"

"Not to mention that those little kids would be delighted by your magic tricks!" Mrs Summers giggled.

"It wouldn't be just magic tricks. It would be real magic!" Bridgette giggled again.

Leila yipped, drawing their attention to them.

"How about a little drive around the neighbourhood, huh? I think she'd like it." Mrs Summers gestured to the puppy who was running around the yard as fast as her little legs would carry her.

"I'd like it too..." Bridgette smiled as she picked Leila up and held her snugly as she squirmed in her arms.

Trudging through the house to find her leash, collar and a bag of puppy treats, she met her mom in the garage and sat in the backseat with the puppy.

"Alright then. Let's go for a ride!" Mrs Summers unlocked the car and Bridgette got in with Leila in the backseat.

"Where to? The dog park?" Mrs Summers asked.

"No need. A nice cruise in the car is good. Besides I think she loves riding in the car already!" Bridgette giggled as Leila squirmed over her shoulder, trying to get to the window and look out.

As they drove through the neighbourhood, some other drivers recognized them and waved, smiling.

"Cute puppy, Keeper Bridgette!" One female, slightly older gave a thumbs-up as she drove past.

"Thanks!" Bridgette returned the thumbs-up.

"It's nice to have a nice drive like this and not think of having to go anywhere in particular. The last few days have been... _testing,_ to say the least..." Bridgette's mother sighed.

"Testing how?" Bridgette raised an eyebrow.

"Just some people I know... Making remarks about you. I don't think that they hate you really or fear you. More like they're... Jealous, I suppose. Of you and your powers. I have to admit, your powers are pretty awesome though. I think I'd be jealous too." her mother shrugged.

Bridgette tapped into her empathy magic to sense her mother's emotions, because she couldn't tell how she was feeling at the moment without it.

Her mother was... slightly upset, but not majorly so, she found.

_"I won't push mom. If there's anything bad about me going on, I'm sure I'll find out about it..." _she said to herself.

* * *

><p>Izzy and Lindsay sat together in the common area of the Keeper Den.<p>

"And then they just randomly swore at me for no reason at all! Mall security had to drag them out and they were banned from the mall for life!" Lindsay exclaimed as she took a sip of tea.

"Wow. I know I've got some crazies in my life but these guys seem pretty close up there!" Izzy exclaimed as she took a sip of soda.

"Hey, you two. What's up?" Gwen said as she materialised in the room, Bridgette and Heather in tow.

"We just came here to get a break from the craziness in our lives is all..." Izzy reclined in her chair.

Gwen and Heather looked at one another oddly, but quickly shook it off.

"What's up with you all?" Bridgette asked.

"Izzy and I were just talking about the stupid people in our lives that think that us having magic is a bad thing!" Lindsay exclaimed.

"Yeah. Somebody told me that my powers ought to be stripped away and me locked in an asylum!" Izzy exclaimed angrily.

Heather exclaimed indignantly on the Fire Keeper's behalf. "You might be a nutcase, but you've proven that you have complete control of your powers! You're no danger unless you want to be!"

"Umm... thanks." Izzy said, somewhat miffed by the backhanded compliment. "And anyway, my family and friends don't care about all that, so screw them!"

"Lucky you. Some people gave my sister crap at school about me and she comes home and blames it on me! Like, what the hell?! Did I tell them to give her a hard time? And the worst part was that she was okay with it all at first and she'd let some _insignificant little people get to her?!_" Heather practically snarled.

"My own mom hinted at people she knows being the same way with her. Me, personally... I'm not seeing it. Though we really should have known something like this was bound to happen. People won't accept magic here on Earth that easily... People might be afraid of us, be jealous of us... Those with beliefs that believe that magic is dangerous or evil might want to destroy all of us..." Bridgette mused.

"My sister broke up with her boyfriend because he was saying bad things about me. Like not things about my hair or how stupid people think I am, but really nasty things..." Lindsay pouted.

"Wish I had a sister like that..." Heather muttered.

"You're not stupid, Lindsay. You just... you've improved since we all became Keepers." Gwen said.

_"She's still kinda stupid, but much less so than before."_ Heather thought.

_"And you're still a bitch, but much less than before." _Gwen retorted.

"Don't you ever forget it!" Heather smirked and the two returned to regular conversation.

"It's obviously clear that lines have been drawn in the general public as well as our families in regards to us being Keepers. We knew that it would happen, but still..." Bridgette sighed.

"This is even worse than being in Total Drama ever was." Izzy said.

"Right up there with fighting Radcliffe and his goons..." Heather said.

"He even managed to take advantages of the differences between us and make us and some of the other contestants go against us so drastically..." Lindsay said.

Gwen and Heather both got sour looks on their faces, thinking of Courtney and Alejandro respectively.

"It may get harder from here on out, but we have to stick together. Dealing with all this, all of us graduating high school soon..." Izzy said.

"Ah, high school. I'll miss running it." Heather smirked.

"I won't miss it at all." Gwen said.

"But we're all strong enough to get through this, right? I mean, we managed to pull through it all and get over our differences to work together!" Bridgette reminded them.

"Through thick and thin. We may never be the best of friends, but we will never let that come between us and our duties as Keepers." Gwen vowed.

"You bet." Heather, surprisingly was the first one to hold up her hand for a group high-five and the other girls obliged.

They were strong. Nothing was going to stop them.


	12. Chapter 12

"Thank goodness, high school is _so _over." Heather kicked off her sandals as she reclined in a chair in the common area Keeper Den, where the others were sitting around a table.

"You're telling me. But… I thought you _enjoyed _being the Queen Bee in high school…" Gwen raised an eyebrow at her.

"I did, but there's much more things out there that I could be ruling. More powerful things. Maybe once I've finished my education here, I'll move onto the fully magical planets and do something there." Heather shrugged.

"What are you two aiming to be, anyway?" Bridgette asked them.

"Well, I'm going to be a lawyer. I'd like to tackle either corporate or criminal law." Heather answered.

"Being a lawyer would suit you. You have the cutthroat personality," Gwen noted. "Nobody would stand a chance against you in a court of law."

"Thank you. I do enjoy cutting people down." Heather smirked.

"And we're all well aware of that." Izzy remarked, draping herself lazily across an armchair. "Meanwhile, I've been invited back to Hollywood to try a thing. Who knew that having magic powers would be an invite to do stuff there?"

"Careful. The tabloids will probably say you put a spell on them to get the job... whatever job it is..." Heather half-joked.

"Ah, I don't care about them, anyway. They don't matter. And I'm not acting right now anyway. I still have friends down there and I mentioned a story idea I had. They asked me to send a script down to them, I did and the rest is history! I'm going to be _producing _the movie, not acting in it!"

"Impressive. And you're only what, eighteen? Youngest film director ever, I think!" Bridgette clapped her on the back.

"I'm going to Parsons in NYC to do Fashion Design!" Lindsay exclaimed happily.

"Wait, what?!" all the other Keepers exclaimed.

"_You _got into _Parsons?! _That's like the best of the best in design schools! I would kill to get in there!" Gwen said in awe.

"Yeah, I totally did! Look!" Lindsay snapped her fingers and the acceptance letter appeared in her hand.

"Gimme that! I wanna see!" Izzy snatched it from the blonde's fingers.

Casting a spell on it that caused it to glow bright gold, her eyes only seemed to grow bigger in surprise.

"Authentication spell. This thing's the real deal, folks! Our Lindsay is headed to New York City, baby!" Izzy cheered.

"Wow. Congratulations, Lindsay!" Heather was actually sincere with her for once, instead of her usually sarcastic comments.

"Thanks, Heather! I'm totally going to design something for all of you!" Lindsay beamed.

"As long as it's not too girly, _or _brightly coloured..." Gwen smiled.

"And if my movie has a grand opening, I want you to design the gown!" Izzy declared.

"Meanwhile, I'll be putting _my_ art skills to another practical use: architecture. Maybe I'll design you fashion empire's headquarters." Gwen said.

"Look at all of us. Making plans to go do stuff all across North America... Izzy's going to California, Lindsay's going to New York, I myself will be going back to my native Hawaii to study Oceanography... And Gwen and Heather are staying here in Canada, going to school at universities on different sides of Canada..." Bridgette beamed. "Hopefully my stay there will be more uneventful than _a certain event..._"

"But of course, we'll be able to keep in touch via the mental link we have and if anything, we can meet here in person, to rant about our lives and stuff!" Izzy said.

"Somehow, I have the feeling we'll have a lot to rant about, besides school..." Heather said darkly.

The mood in the room soured considerably.

"Besides the Total Drama reunion they're making us go to over the summer?" Bridgette actually scowled.

"Especially the Total Drama reunion they're making us go to over the summer. At least Chris won't be able to make us do anything stupid." Izzy joined Bridgette in her scowling.

"Not for lack of trying..." Lindsay noted.

"_Definitely_ not for lack of trying. Shane might have ultimately turned down the offer to _host_ the show, but he still got involved in the production side and managed to force him to tone down some of the more... _vicious_ challenges..." Gwen noted.

"Lucky newbies. I wonder what they're like in person? Especially the few magical ones in the bunch..." Bridgette looked thoughtful.

"Well at least at this reunion, we know two people who won't be there. I for one, am glad that they're either too ashamed to be there or in jail." Heather scowled.

They all scowled at the memory of a certain pair of Total Drama Alumni.

"Alejandro got off way too easy, but at least Courtney's still locked away for a long time to come! Good riddance!" Lindsay exclaimed, leaning back in her chair.

"I still kinda feel bad about it. I mean, I was her friend and everything and I knew she was really upset, but upset enough to go as far as she did..." Bridgette said sadly.

"I just thought she was crabbier than usual. Never knew she would go that far..." Lindsay shuddered at the thought.

"If anything, it was my fault. I let Duncan kiss me and tried to lie to her about it afterwards and ruined some semblance of a friendship that we had..." Gwen spoke next.

_"Bull."_ Heather snarled, startling the others as she banged her fist on the table. "It's no one's fault but hers. She made the choices that she did. She got herself into trouble. It was her that decided to succumb to the crazy in a bad way. Izzy's out of her gourd half the time, but you don't see her turning into an homicidal maniac, do you?"

"She's right, you know." Izzy remarked casually, fiddling with a fire ball in one hand. "We all have our choices. We made ours and she made hers. If she'd just stop to think, then we wouldn't be having this discussion in the first place!"

"Wise words from the crazy person in our group," Bridgette teased. "for a change!"

"Yeah, I may just have to write one of those self help books. It would be a bestseller!" Izzy cheered. "Though... if you write a self-help book and someone uses it, that's not self-help. That's help. I mean, they did it themselves If they did it themselves, they didn't need help!"

The others paused to consider that.

"That... actually makes sense." Heather looked slightly stunned at the thought of Izzy actually making sense.

"Of course it made sense! Why wouldn't it make any sense!" Izzy gestured around wildly.

"Because you don't normally make any sense!" the Earth Keeper exclaimed.

"My sense of things that make sense is obviously different to your sense of things that make sense!" Izzy exclaimed.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Heather became exasperated, feeling a slight headache coming on and rubbing her temple.

"Thanks! I do try!" Izzy did a little bow.

Heather twitched.

_"Enough, you two,"_ Gwen commanded mentally. "we're here to relax and escape the craziness from outside, not having it brought in here with us..." she glanced at a certain Fire Keeper.

_"But this is the good kind of crazy!"_ Izzy objected.

The other four Keepers stared her down until she relented.

"Oh, fine," Izzy pouted. _"Spoil sports..."_

* * *

><p>The cell was dark, with only a sliver of moonlight shining through the narrow window high above, providing little light, showing the slight outline of the sparse furnishing of the room.<p>

Besides the bed, there was a toilet and a sink and a small metal table attached to the wall and a chair.

Only one figure was inside, alone and deep in thought.

Her hair, cut short into something that barely resembled a pixie cut, she lay on the uncomfortable mattress staring up at the ceiling.

"I don't even know how long I've been in this place... I can't take it much longer..." her speech quavered slightly, but her eyes glinted with anger. "...I need to get out of here..."

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed and getting to her feet slowly, she walked over to the sink and splashed some water on her face.

"Who knew that I'd be here today? Me! Little Miss C.I.T.!" Courtney chuckled as she flicked a few drops of water off her hand and watch them fall in the moonlight.

"Me, locked away in solitary confinement on some magical planet because I let my emotions get the best of me! I was so damn _stupid!_ And over a_ guy _no less!" her laughter was completely void of any joy. "Didn't mama ever tell you not to ever make yourself look like a fool for anyone, especially a guy? Sorry about that, mama! Heheheheh..."

"No, Courtney. Stay calm. Don't let them break you. You are a strong you woman, despite what you've done in the past and _when,_ not_ if_ you get out of here, you're going to show the world, who the real Courtney Martinez is!"

The light hit her features, throwing them into relief.

A smirk adorned her features and her eyes shone in a way that said that despite her situation, she didn't count herself out of the competition just yet.


End file.
